With
results in from nearly all of Greece's polling stations, more than 61 percent
of voters have said "no" to more austerity demands from international
creditors. Eurozone leaders are planning an emergency summit.
Deutsche Welle, 6 July 2015
Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras went on television on Sunday night and said
"Together we have written a bright page in modern European history."
His government had called for a "No" vote in the snap referendum to
reject terms of the latest offer from international creditors which imposed more
pension cuts and tax increases, without any debt relief.
"This
is not a mandate of rupture with Europe, but a mandate that bolsters our
negotiating strength to achieve a viable deal," he remarked. Tsipras said
he was willing to resume negotiations with creditors immediately.
Today we celebrate the victory of #democracy.
Tomorrow, we will all continue our national effort to reach an agreement. #Greece
— Alexis Tsipras (@tsipras_eu) July 5, 2015
Thousands
of people gathered in central Syntagma Square to celebrate the result on Sunday
night. Results showed 61 percent voted "no," compared with 38 percent
for "yes."
Greek
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Sunday: "The Greek people said
'no more' to five years of austerity."
"In 24h we COULD have an agreement", I said. But our toxic media rushed to report that I predicted an agreement within 24h. Go figure!
— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) July 5, 2015
The
"no" votes carried through virtually every district in the country
#Greece referendum results with 95.49% votes reported: no (61.3%), yes (38.7%) http://t.co/DGer5xmo5Z #Grefenderum pic.twitter.com/cBnyrkbv5i
— The Guardian (@guardian) July 5, 2015
Next step
Tsipras
said he would call a meeting of ministers on Monday to discuss next steps. As
the last offer from the country's creditors is no longer on the table, there
remains the possibility that they could walk away from negotiations and leave
Greece to face default, financial collapse and expulsion from the eurozone -
and, in the worst case, from the European Union.
Greece
failed to meet its debt repayment date with the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) last Tuesday, the same day its bailout program with the EU expired.
Athens faces more debt repayments in the coming weeks.
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday she would travel to Paris on Monday to
meet with the French president, Francois Hollande, for a "joint assessment
of the situation after the Greek referendum."
The two
leaders later called for a summit of eurozone leaders on Tuesday - a request
rapidly granted by EU Council President Donald Tusk.
I have called a #EuroSummit Tuesday evening at 18h to discuss situation after referendum in #Greece
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) July 5, 2015
jm/jr (Reuters, AFP)
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