The eurozone says Greece has
submitted no new proposals to secure a deal with creditors ahead of a
key meeting of the group's leaders which is now under way.
It had urged Greece to submit fresh plans after its people rejected a draft bailout in a referendum.
Greece
said it had proposed a few changes and hoped to secure "a mutually
beneficial agreement on the basis of the mandate of the referendum".
But Germany said there was "still no basis" for talks on a new bailout. Greece debt crisis: Latest updates
The
Greek side gave a presentation on Tuesday at a eurozone finance
ministers' meeting in Brussels, which preceded the leaders' summit.
However, there was no new written plan.
The Greek government said: "Today's Eurogroup was not supposed to take decisions but rather prepare for the summit."
Media captionGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel stresses that only days are left to secure a deal
It
said proposals it had made last week were still on the table with a
"few changes" and they would be discussed later on Tuesday and on
Wednesday. Mr Dijsselbloem said
Greece would be sending a new letter requesting support from the
European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a pot of money set up in 2012 to
fund eurozone members in financial difficulties.
He said the
Eurogroup would discuss this on Wednesday but that creditors would have
to look at Greece's finances and debt sustainability to see "if we can
formally start the negotiations".
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras met
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande
separately before the leaders' summit.
Analysis: Gavin Lee, BBC News, Europe reporter
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos' accidentally revealed his notes on hotel paper on Tuesday
The first full day at work for
Greek finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, and he's already found out
what it's like to slip-up with the paparazzi. Mr Tsakalotos was
photographed with scribbled notes in hand, face-side up - private notes
now open to public scrutiny on social media.
The scribbled notes -
written in English, conveniently for the press - may not be legible
enough to make full sense of his opening gambit but they certainly
reveal the tone. The words 'no triumphalism' can be deciphered,
attention is drawn to 'AT' - presumably Alexis Tsipras' message on the
night of the referendum, and there's also reference to the proposals
being rejected "mostly on viability grounds".
Mr Tsakalotos then
writes about yesterday's political deal with all parties except the
communist KKE - perhaps to draw attention to the overwhelming mandate he
believes the Greek government has.
There may be graphologists
already studying his writing to get a sense of the man now a key player
in determining the future of Greece. In the interim, Mr Tsakalotos may
now be scribbling: "Note to self: keep cards close to chest." Showing your notes: other notable gaffes The
result of the referendum had sparked fears of a Greek exit from the
eurozone and the lack of a new written plan was criticised by some in
the group.
Mrs Merkel said as she arrived for the leaders' summit:
"We still do not have the basis for negotiations... it is not a
question of weeks anymore, but a question of a few days."
Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the leaders' summit was looking like a "waste of time".
His
Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, said: "It is really up to the Greek
government to come up with far-reaching proposals. If they don't do
that, then I think it will be over quickly."
Mr Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi have been more hopeful of a deal.
Mr
Renzi said: "A technical solution for Greece can be found. What is more
important is to find a political solution for Europe."
Mr Tsipras will address the European Parliament on Wednesday, a Greek government source said. View from Germany: Jenny Hill, BBC News, Berlin
A
picture of Angela Merkel wearing an old Prussian military helmet
dominates the front cover of Bild. "Today," the headline reads "we need
the Iron Chancellor!" referring to Otto von Bismarck, who first held the
post.
For weeks the tabloid has been leading the charge against
Greece. Like many here, it has had enough. "No more billions for
Greece," it urged on Tuesday.
The chancellor is under huge
domestic pressure not to cave in to Greek demands for debt relief. Her
deputy, Sigmar Gabriel, has said that to do so would destroy the
eurozone.
And on Tuesday the CSU (her party's Bavarian ally) went
further: general secretary Andreas Scheuer wants Berlin to reject
further negotiations, let alone a third bailout package. The Bavarian
finance minister, Markus Soeder, has said he simply wants Greece out of
the eurozone.
And these are the MPs who will have to vote before
negotiations over any proposed new deal can even start. Mrs Merkel says
she wants to keep the eurozone together; she's got a battle on her hands
at home first. Where do eurozone countries stand? Mr
Tsipras has been reported to want Greece's vast €323bn ($356bn; £228bn)
debt to be cut by up to 30%, with a 20-year grace period.
Germany has warned against any unconditional write-off of Greece's debt, amid fears it would destroy the single currency.
Greece's
teetering banks have been shut since the last international bailout
programme expired last Tuesday and are to remain closed until at least
Wednesday.
Media captionJean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament he was texting the Greek PM, after complaints about his phone use
The
European Central Bank (ECB) is maintaining its pressure on the banks,
refusing to increase emergency lending and ordering them to provide more
security for existing emergency loans.
Capital controls have been imposed, with people unable to withdraw more than €60 a day from cash machines.
The
European Commission - one of the "troika" of creditors along with the
IMF and the ECB - wants Athens to raise taxes and slash welfare spending
to meet its debt obligations.
Greece's Syriza-led left-wing
government, which was elected in January on an anti-austerity platform,
said creditors had tried to use fear to put pressure on Greeks.
What are the scenarios for Greece?
What happens next? Eurozone decision down to politics Mr
Tsipras met Greek political party leaders on Monday to agree demands to
reach a "socially fair and economically viable deal". According to
Greek media, the demands include:
Securing liquidity for Greece's financial system
Credible reforms with reduced recessionary impacts
Strong programme for growth
Restructuring of Greek debt - that could mean writing some off and rescheduling repayments
As a teen Tsipras was already at the barricades, fighting for students to decide whether to go to classes.
"We want the right to judge for ourselves whether to skip class," he told a TV interviewer while leading a school sit-in at 17.
Despite
his defiant pose and talk of ending twice bailed-out Greece's
"humiliation", the young leader of the radical leftist Syriza party has
made a slew of concessions in fraught talks with his eurozone
counterparts.
He has agreed to continue to cut spending and
implement structural reforms, leading former French president Nicolas
Sarkozy to declare with satisfaction that Tsipras had "eaten his hat".
But on June 27, Tsipras drew a line in the sand.
Rejecting
the additional austerity measures attached to a five-month,
12-billion-euro ($13.4-billion) extension of Greece's bailout programme,
he took to the airwaves to announce a surprise referendum on the
package in a week's time.
"The people must decide free of any blackmail," he declared.
- On the ropes -
Olivier Delorme, a Franco-Greek historian, said Tsipras "has made endless concessions and each time he has been knocked back".
"By
saying 'don't be afraid' and talking of 'dignity restored' he is
continuing a leitmotiv of resistance in Greek history," Delorme said,
comparing Syriza's approach with Greek rebellion under Ottoman rule.
His insistence he is not for turning has made Tsipras the standard bearer of radical leftist parties across Europe.
But
the prime minister's abrupt decision to test his vision of democracy
with the referendum sparked scenes of panic in Greece, where people
immediately mobbed ATMs after Saturday's broadcast to try withdraw cash.
A day later, as expected, the government introduced capital controls limiting bank withdrawals.
Tsipras
said his first priority after the referendum would be to remedy that
issue, and he urged the European Central Bank to consider the
"humanitarian aspect" of its decision to keep Greek banks on a tight
leash.
Greek voters have decisively
rejected the terms of an international bailout. he final result in the
referendum, published by the interior ministry, was 61.3% "No", against
38.7% who voted "Yes".
Greece's governing Syriza party had campaigned for a "No", saying the bailout terms were humiliating.
Their
opponents warned that this could see Greece ejected from the eurozone,
and a summit of eurozone heads of state has now been called for Tuesday.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said late on Sunday that Greeks had voted for a "Europe of solidarity and democracy". Referendum as it happened
"As
of tomorrow, Greece will go back to the negotiating table and our
primary priority is to reinstate the financial stability of the
country," he said in a televised address.
"This time, the debt
will be on the negotiating table," he added, saying that an
International Monetary Fund assessment published this week "confirms
Greek views that restructuring the debt is necessary". But some European officials had said that a "No" would be seen as an outright rejection of talks with creditors.
Jeroen
Dijsselbloem, who heads the eurozone's group of finance ministers, said
the referendum result was "very regrettable for the future of Greece".
Germany's Deputy Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, said renewed negotiations with Greece were "difficult to imagine".
Mr
Tsipras and his government were taking the country down a path of
"bitter abandonment and hopelessness", he told the Tagesspiegel daily.
Analysis: Mark Lowen, BBC News, Athens
The
partying by the "No" camp will go well into the night here and the
government will be popping open the ouzo. Alexis Tsipras has called the
eurozone's bluff - and it appears to have gone his way.
But the
triumphalism won't last. There is still a sizeable chunk of the Greek
nation deeply unhappy with what has happened. And the government will
have to unite a divided country.
More than that, a deal with the eurozone has to be struck fast.
Greek banks are running critically low and will need another injection of emergency funds from the European Central Bank.
Given
the bad blood of the past two weeks - Greece's Finance Minister, Yanis
Varoufakis, calling the eurozone's strategy "terrorism" - it will be
hard to get back around the negotiating table. And with the banking
crisis and tax revenues plummeting amidst the instability, Greece's
economy has weakened again, making a deal even harder to reach.
The
eurozone's tough rhetoric will continue. But Greece's government will
have its answer prepared: we put your demands to a democratic test - and
they were rejected. Greece
had been locked in negotiations with its creditors for months when the
Greek government unexpectedly called a referendum on the terms it was
being offered.
Banks have been shut and capital controls in place
since last Monday, after the European Central Bank declined to give
Greece more emergency funding.
Withdrawals at cash machines have
been limited to €60 per day. Greece's latest bailout expired on Tuesday
and Greece missed a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) payment to the IMF.
Robert Peston, BBC economics editor, Athens
Greek banks have stayed shut for a week
Greek banks are desperately in need of a lender of last resort to save them, and the Greek economy.
And
sad to say no banker or central banker to whom I have spoken believes
the European Central Bank (ECB) can fulfil that function - because it is
struggling to prove to itself that Greek banks have adequate assets to
pledge to it as security for new loans.
There are only two
options. The Bank of Greece could make unsecured loans to Greek banks
without the ECB's permission - which would provoke a furious reaction
from Eurozone leaders and would be seen by most of them as tantamount to
leaving the euro.
Or it can explicitly create a new currency, a
new drachma, which it could then use to provide vital finance to Greek
banks and the Greek economy. Greece on verge of euro exit Greek
government officials have insisted that rejecting bailout terms would
strengthen their hand, and that they could rapidly strike a deal for
fresh funding in resumed negotiations.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said that with a "No" vote, Greek banks would reopen on Tuesday.
He
was due to meet senior Greek bankers late on Sunday. State Minister
Nikos Pappas, a close ally of Mr Tsipras, said it was "absolutely
necessary" to restore liquidity to the banks now the referendum was
over.
Summit called
Some European officials sounded conciliatory after the vote.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeted:
"Now it is right to start trying for an agreement again. But there is
no escape from the Greek labyrinth with a Europe that's weak and isn't
growing."
Belgium's finance minister said the door remained open to restart talks with Greece "literally, within hours".
Eurozone
finance ministers could again discuss measures "that can put the Greek
economy back on track and give the Greeks a perspective for the future,"
he told the VRT network.
Media captionAlexis Tsipras said his priority was to restore the "financial stability of Greece"
European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was consulting the
leaders of eurozone member states, and would have a conference call with
key EU officials and the ECB on Monday morning.
French President
Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are scheduled to
meet in Paris on Monday. A summit of eurozone heads of state has been
called for Tuesday.
The European Commission - one of the "troika"
of creditors along with the IMF and the ECB - wanted Athens to raise
taxes and slash welfare spending to meet its debt obligations.
Greece's
Syriza-led government, which was elected in January on an
anti-austerity platform, said creditors had presented it with an
"ultimatum", using fear to put pressure on Greeks.
The Greek government's opponents and some Greek voters had complained that the question in Sunday's referendum was unclear. EU officials said it applied to the terms of an offer that was no longer on the table.
The turnout in Sunday's referendum was 62.5%.
As
the result became clear, former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who had
campaigned for a "Yes" vote in the referendum, resigned as leader of
the centre-right New Democracy party.
ATHENS, Greece -- The latest from the bailout referendum in Greece (all times local):
---
10:10 p.m.
Thousands
of government supporters have gathered in celebration in Athens' main
square, waving Greek flags and chanting "No, No" after returns show
their side leading in Sunday's referendum.
Vendors have set up stalls to sell kebabs, sandwiches, whistles and Greek flags in Syntagma square in front of parliament.
Athens
resident Yiannis Gkovesis, holding a large Greek flag, says "we don't
want austerity measures anymore. This has been happening for the last
five years and it has driven so many into poverty. We simply can't take
any more austerity."
The 26-year-old Gkovesis
says "if the Europeans really wanted Greece to stand on its feet, then
they could have done so without imposing such harsh measures."
Supporters
of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' Syriza party staged the rally two
days after he drew massive crowds to his final campaign rally - also in
front of parliament.
---
9:30 p.m.
Belgium's
finance minister is one of the first eurozone ministers to react to an
official projection and opinion polls that the "no" vote will win in the
Greece referendum, saying it will complicate matters.
Johan
Van Overtveldt insists, however, that the door remains open to resume
talks with the Greek government "literally, within hours."
He
told VRT network on Sunday that the eurogroup of 19 finance ministers
can again discuss measures "that can put the Greek economy back on track
and gives the Greeks a perspective for the future."
Greeks
voted on its financial future, choosing in a referendum whether to
accept creditors' demands for more austerity in return for rescue loans
or defiantly reject the deal. Final results are expected later Sunday.
---
8:50 p.m.
A
government-backed "no" in Greece's bailout referendum is set to win by
61 percent, according to an official projection by the country's
Interior Ministry.
Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras halted negotiations with creditors to hold the vote and seek a
popular rejection of austerity measures. But European officials have
warned a "no" vote could risk Greece's membership of the euro.
The
projected margin late Sunday was higher than originally indicated by
polling date when the polls closed at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT).
---
8:40 p.m.
Of
the first 20 percent of votes counted in Greece's referendum on whether
to accept more austerity in exchange for a bailout, 60 percent voted
"no" and 40 percent voted "yes."
Three opinions polls, however, showed a much tighter race with a three to four percentage point difference between both sides.
Greeks
voted on Sunday on its financial future, choosing in a referendum
whether to accept creditors' demands for more austerity in return for
rescue loans or defiantly reject the deal. Final results are expected
later Sunday.
---
8:25 p.m.
A
senior Greek opposition official says the expected "no" vote win in
Sunday's bailout referendum will increase pressure on the government to
reach a deal with creditors.
Vangelis
Meimarkis says "if we don't have an agreement within 48 hours as the
(prime minister) promised, then we are being led to a tragedy."
Meimarakis,
a former parliamentary speaker and a senior conservative lawmaker,
tacitly acknowledges that the government has won the critical vote, but
says Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is likely to make further concessions
if the talks restart.
Meimarakis said Sunday that "I think the government has got the message that the time is over for game theory and gambling."
---
8 p.m.
Greek
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is conferring with the country's
bankers over what to demand next from the European Central Bank, a
ministry spokesman has confirmed.
The
spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity pending official
announcements. It wasn't immediately clear where the talks were taking
place.
According to the head of the Greek Banks' Association, cash is only going to last until Monday.
Although
banks are expected to re-open Tuesday, it is almost impossible to have
banks open without a large infusion of cash. Greek financial media have
reported the Bank of Greece will ask the ECB for 6 billion euros ($6.6
billion) in emergency assistance.
Meanwhile, a
close aide to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said a "no" vote win
should not be regarded as an intention by the government to leave the
euro.
It is wrong to link a "no" result to an
exit from the eurozone. If a "no" prevails that will help us get a
better agreement," Minister of State Nikos Pappas told private Alpha
television.
-By Demetris Nellas.
---
7:50 p.m.
Greece's
defense minister, who heads the nationalist junior coalition partner,
has tweeted that Greeks "won't be blackmailed" and "democracy has won."
Panos
Kammenos, leader of the Independent Greeks, has reacted to opinion
polls showing a close race but a likely win in Sunday's referendum by
the "no" vote.
Kammenos says "the Greek people
have proven that they won't be blackmailed. They won't be terrorized.
They won't be threatened. Democracy has won."
Greeks
voted on Sunday on its financial future, choosing in a referendum
whether to accept creditors' demands for more austerity in return for
rescue loans or defiantly reject the deal. Results are expected later
Sunday.
---
7:30 p.m.
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Paris on Monday to discuss the
outcome of the Greek referendum with French President Francois Hollande.
Merkel's
office said Sunday that she will fly to Paris in the evening for a
"joint assessment of the situation after the Greek referendum and to
continue the close German-French cooperation on this issue."
Soon
after polls closed, Hollande made a similar announcement, saying he
would have a working dinner with Merkel on Monday evening to "evaluate
the consequences" of the vote.
Earlier in the
day, the French economy minister said the German and French leaders had
no disagreements when it came to dealing with the situation in Greece.
---
7:20 p.m.
The
governing left-wing Syriza party's European member of parliament says
that "Greek people are proving they want to remain in Europe" as equal
members "and not as a debt colony."
Dimitris
Papadimoulis said that the country should wait for the official and
final results of Sunday's referendum, and called on his fellow
countrymen to remain calm. Three opinion polls conducted during the
voting indicate a tight race with a likely win by the "no" vote.
Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras called Sunday's referendum last weekend, urging
voters to reject creditor reform proposals. Opposition parties and many
European officials have warned that a "no" vote, however, could
endanger Greece's position in Europe's joint currency, the euro.
"A new effort is beginning," he said, adding that Tsipras would move fast to conclude a deal with Greece's creditors.
---
7:10 p.m.
Three
opinion polls carried out during Greece's bailout referendum, which
could affect the country's future in the eurozone, indicate the "no"
vote will win.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called Sunday's referendum last weekend, urging voters to reject creditor reform proposals.
Opposition
parties and many European officials have warned that a "no" vote,
however, could endanger Greece's position in Europe's joint currency,
the euro.
The vote was held amid banking
restrictions imposed last Monday, with Greeks lining up at ATMs across
the country to withdraw a maximum 60 euros ($66) per day. Banks have
been shut all week, and it is uncertain when they will reopen.
---
6:55 p.m.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says that whatever the result in Greece, its future will be a difficult one.
Rajoy says the eurozone has rules and regulations "to ensure its own survival."
He
says that "Europe has always shown its solidarity with Greece, but the
euro cannot be an `a la carte' club in which you can pick and choose."
Rajoy
also said Sunday that "Greece needs to grow, create jobs, and to do so
it must have policies that work to that effect. Demagogy always ends up
crashing into reality."
--
4:40 p.m.
Even
if Greek voters strongly favor "yes" or "no" in the bailout referendum,
neither result leads to a clear answer for what Greece should do about
its overstretched finances.
A "yes" result
would likely produce a national unity government with a new election to
follow - but that would take time, and without financial assistance, the
chances of a full, chaotic default would increase.
Since
Greece is no longer in a bailout program, it has to negotiate a new one
with creditors that involves even more money for its debt-ridden
government and the banks and new economic austerity measures. That means
banking restrictions on money withdrawals and transfers may remain in
place even longer than anticipated.
Despite
the Greek government's assertion that a "no" vote will not lead to a
"Grexit" - a Greek exit from using the common euro currency - most
experts agree it would open up more uncertain financial outcomes.
A
number of European politicians, including Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the top
eurozone official, have said a "no" vote would jeopardize Greece's place
in the 19-nation eurozone.
---
3:05 p.m.
With four hours of voting to go, Greeks are turning out in solid numbers to vote on their financial future.
Private
Mega TV channel says turnout has been markedly high, now standing at 35
percent, and lines have been seen at polling stations in Athens.
Turnout must be above 40 percent for the referendum to be valid.
High turnouts are normal in Greece because voting is mandatory - although that law has not been enforced in recent years.
In
the country's first referendum since 1974, Greece's 9.8 million voters
are choosing Sunday whether to accept demands by international creditors
for more austerity measures in return for bailout loans.
---
2:10 p.m.
Germany's
foreign minister says a `no' vote in Greece's austerity referendum
won't make a future compromises with the country's creditors easier -
"on the contrary."
Still, Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Greeks have a right to vote on the future
of their country and Greece will remain a member of the 28-nation
European Union even if the referendum rejects the austerity demands
being made of Greece by international creditors.
Steinmeier
told Berlin's Tagesspiegel am Sonntag newspaper that the debt situation
in Greece, the unsolved problem of how to handle tens of thousands of
migrants flooding in across the Mediterranean and Britain's demands for
EU reforms are straining the EU's foundations.
He
warned Sunday that a "Grexit" - Greece dropping out of the common euro
currency used by 19 nations- would harm Europe's credibility in the
world.
---
1:45 p.m.
Opinion
polls this week have shown a generation divide in the Greek referendum -
with the "no" vote against more austerity measures far more popular
among younger Greek voters than older ones.
Retired
school teacher Themis Hatziyannaki, 84, voted `yes' Sunday at an Athens
high school, saying she wants to continue enjoying the privileges of
her Greek and European citizenship.
But she
also says she understands that many young people want to vote "no" to
express their anger at Greece's creditors. Unemployment in Greece for
young people under 25 stands at a whopping 51.9 percent.
Hatziyannaki
says "I understand them, because when I was young I was a rebel." But
she said young people also have to consider what's best for Greece's
future and look at what older generations have endured.
----
1:15 p.m.
Greece's
finance minister says the referendum gives Greeks the opportunity to
decide on the austerity "ultimatum" they were handed by other countries
in the 19-nation eurozone.
Yanis Varoufakis
says the eurozone's "massive failures" led to demands for more austerity
measures that Greeks themselves needed to express their views on. He
said the vote on Sunday "gives hope to Europe that a common currency and
democracy can coexist."
Varoufakis spoke as he voted along with his 90-year-old father Giorgos in the southern Athens suburb of Faliro.
This is the first Greek referendum since 1974, when Greeks voted to abolish the monarchy.
(This corrects the spelling of Varoufakis' first name to Yanis).
---
12:45 p.m.
The
Greek referendum does not address whether Greece should abandon the
euro currency or leave the 28-member European Union, but many voters
believe those issues are at stake.
Polls
published Friday showed the two sides in a dead heat over whether to
accept creditors' demands for more austerity or reject them. But an
overwhelming majority of those polled - about 75 percent - wanted Greece
to remain among the 19 European nations using the shared euro currency.
Here's
the yes-or-no question Greeks face Sunday - and it's not an easy one:
"Must the agreement plan submitted by the European Commission, the
European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the
Eurogroup of 25 June, 2015, and comprised of two parts which make up
their joint proposal, be accepted? The first document is titled `reforms
for the completion of the current program and beyond' and the second
`Preliminary debt sustainability analysis.'"
---
11:40 a.m.
Greece's
prime minister says the country's austerity referendum is sending the
message that Greeks are embracing a united Europe but want to live "with
dignity."
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said
after casting a `no' ballot Sunday that the vote demonstrates the Greek
people's right to choose their own future. He said although many Greeks
may pick a different choice than the government, "no one can ignore the
will of the people to take their lives in their hands."
Tsipras said the referendum "defeats fear and ultimatums."
Tsipras
wants the "no" side to win. He says that will booster his negotiating
position to secure a better deal with creditors for loans to avoid a
default and a banking collapse.
---
11:20 a.m.
Which will help Greece more - voting "yes" or "no" to accepting more austerity demands from creditors?
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says a "no" vote would strengthen his hand to negotiate a better deal.
But
proponents of a "yes" vote, including a parade of former prime
ministers and the main opposition party, say backing his government will
jeopardize Greece's place in the club of 19 nations who use the common
euro currency. Instead, they argue by voting "yes" Greece would get a
new deal quickly to shore up its sinking economy.
Conservative
opposition leader Antonis Samaras cast his ballot Sunday, saying "we
vote `yes' to Greece. We vote `yes' to Europe."
---
10:25 a.m.
The
Greek referendum on whether or not to accept bailout demands by
creditors is causing deep divisions, even among individual families.
Dimitris
Danikoglous says he is voting "yes" because he fears Greece would be in
danger if it leaves the European Union. His daughter Alexandra is
voting "no" because she is tired of richer European nations bossing
Greece around.
His son, Nikolas, is on his
side - and he thinks polarized Greece may be on the verge of a civil
war. His wife Dimitra distrusts both the Yes and the No campaigns and
doesn't plan to vote in Sunday's momentous referendum.
In
their apartment in the working-class Athens neighborhood of Tavros, the
family members squabble over espresso frappes and fruit juice. Still,
they are united in their belief that only as a strong family can they
weather the coming storm.
---
7 a.m.
Polls
have opened across Greece in a hastily called referendum on whether the
EU country will accept the tough creditor conditions attached to loans
needed to avoid default and a banking collapse.
A
"no" may lead to a chaotic departure from the shared euro currency.
Even "yes" is no guarantee that creditors will agree to lend the
billions more euros needed to get the country back on its feet.
Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras is banking on fellow Greeks to deliver a
resounding "no" in the popular vote that he believes will give him
strong leverage in his negotiations with creditors - the EU and the
International Monetary Fund - to swing a softer bailout deal.
Proponents
of a "yes" vote, including the main opposition party, say backing the
government will jeopardize Greece's place in the 19-nation eurozone.
Instead, they argue voting "yes" will allow Greece to get a new bailout
deal quickly to shore up the economy.
With
more than 20% of votes counted, results from the Greek referendum
suggest voters have rejected the terms of an international bailout.
Results
published by the interior ministry showed about 60% of those whose
votes had been counted voting "No", against some 40% voting "Yes".
Greece's governing Syriza party campaigned for a "No", saying the bailout terms were humiliating.
The "Yes" campaign warned this could see Greece ejected from the eurozone.
Senior European officials had also said that a "No" would be seen as a rejection of talks with creditors.
But
Greek government officials have insisted that a "No" vote would
strengthen their hand and that they could rapidly strike a deal for
fresh funding in resumed negotiations.
Greek banks would reopen by Tuesday, they say. Follow our live updates
