Greeks defy Europe with overwhelming referendum ‘No’

Greeks voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to reject terms of a bailout, risking financial ruin in a show of defiance that could splinter Europe. The astonishingly strong victory by the 'No’ camp overturned opinion polls that had predicted an outcome too close to call. It leaves Greece in uncharted waters: risking financial and political isolation within the euro zone and a banking collapse if creditors refuse further aid. But for millions of Greeks the outcome was an angry message to creditors that Greece can longer accept repeated rounds of austerity that, in five years, had left one in four without a job. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has denounced the price paid for aid as “blackmail” and a national “humiliation.”

The government now has a strong mandate, a strong negotiating card, to bring a deal which will open new ways.

Labor Minister Panos Skourletis

But euro zone officials shot down any prospect of a quick resumption of talks. One official said there were no plans for an emergency meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday, adding the vote outcome meant the ministers “would not know what to discuss.” The result also delivers a hammer blow to the European Union’s grand single currency project. Intended to be permanent and unbreakable when it was created 15 years ago, the euro zone could now be on the point of losing its first member with the risk of further unraveling to come.

EU leaders must get together immediately, even on Monday. The situation is too serious to leave to finance ministers.

Axel Schaefer, a deputy head of the Social Democrat (SPD) group in the German parliament

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