Greeks Reject Europe's Bailout Terms; Atheist Prime Minister Hails 'No' Vote a 'Victory of Democracy'
As Greeks voted overwhelmingly to reject Europe's latest bailout offer with severe austerity as a condition, the country's atheist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called it a "victory of democracy." The Eurogroup chief, on the other hand, expressed concern, saying the result is "very regrettable for the future of Greece."
The final result for Sunday's referendum shows that 61.31 percent voted "no" and 38.69 percent voted "yes," local newspapers reported.
This sets Greece on an uncertain path, as the nation could now be headed for a worse economic disaster and even loss of its place in the euro.
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"Today we celebrate the victory of democracy," Tsipras, the country's first openly atheist leader, said on television after the vote, calling it "a bright day in the history of Europe."
"We proved even in the most difficult circumstances that democracy won't be blackmailed," he said. "Given the unfavorable conditions last week, you have made a very brave choice. But I am aware that the mandate you gave me is not a mandate for rupture."
A majority of the people in Greece identify themselves as Orthodox Christians. The Greek Orthodox Church had urged a "yes" vote, as it sees "Orthodoxy as part of the European fabric and history and understands Greece to be an important part of the European project," as Elizabeth H. Prodromou, who teaches at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts, had earlier told The Huffington Post.
The Church didn't respond to the result of the referendum until Monday.
Greece owes billions of euros to the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and 18 euro-zone countries. Europe and the IMF have rescued Greece with $264 billion since 2010, with the condition that Greece would implement deep budget cuts and bring in structural reforms — the conditions that many Greeks didn't like as such measures resulted in high unemployment and deep entitlement cuts.
The leftist prime minister said the next step is to negotiate a viable solution with the international creditors. He apparently hopes Europe would provide more money with less imposed austerity as well as cancel at least some of the country's debt.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Eurogroup chief and Dutch finance minister, said in a statement, "This result is very regrettable for the future of Greece. For recovery of the Greek economy, difficult measures and reforms are inevitable."
He added, "We will now wait for the initiatives of the Greek authorities. The Eurogroup will discuss the state of play on Tuesday, July 7," the day a European Union summit will be held to discuss Greece's financial crisis.
Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who called the "yes" vote a "majestic, big YES to a democratic Europe," announced his resignation Monday on his official blog.
"Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted 'partners,' for my … 'absence' from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today," he wrote, according to tovima.gr.
The referendum took place a week after Greece announced it was closing its banks as it had failed to repay the IMF after its bailout programme ended.
The banks remained closed Monday with a 60-euro cap on ATM withdrawals.
