Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Greece says No to creditors

  • Around 60% of Greek voters followed PM Tsipras' call for a No vote (Photo: Eric Maurice)

Around 60 percent of Greek voters said No Sunday (5 July) to the reforms asked by the country's international creditors, according to results after half of the vote were counted.

The electoral map of Greece was uniformly orange, the colour of the Oxi (No) campaign, showing an homogeneous trend throughout the country.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

By voting No with a wider margin than the latest polls predicted, Greek voters defied EU warnings that a No would be considered a rejection of the euro and Europe.

"Today's No is a No to the eurozone vision as a great cage to its peoples. It is a yes to the eurozone as a land of prosperity for its people," finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said at a press conference.

In his short campaign, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras presented the No vote as a positive act of dignity and democratic virtue.

Tsipras' message chimed with the mood of many Greeks who felt that after five years of crisis and two bailouts, they had nothing to lose by rejecting the creditors' offer of new aid in exchange for further painful reforms.

The strong No result is a major endorsement for Tsipras whose Syriza party was elected with just 36 percent of the vote in January's general election.

"The mandate of the people is clear. A new try begins for an agreement favorable to both sides, as equal partners and not as a debt colony," Tsipras' spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis said on TV.

"The goverment can go now with a very strong card to continue negotiations" with Greece's creditors, labour minister Panos Skourletis told reporters.

Greek chief negotiator with the EU Euclid Tsakalotos said the government would now talk with the creditors to try to find an agreement in the next 48 hours.

Tsakalotos also said the government was "not discussing a parallel currency".

Greek voters resent EU pressure

Faced with a choice many tell them is for or against Europe, some Greeks might vote No in reaction to outside pressure.

Opinion

Yes or No: The consequences will be dire

The EU shares the blame for this sad and avoidable situation. It should do some soul-searching while it watches up to 10 million Greek voters make their fateful decision.

Opinion

Europe commits suicide in Greece

With the current neoliberal austerity policies, other European countries will end up in the same misery and hopelessness as Greece.

Greek parliament backs austerity plan

Greek MPs on Saturday backed the government's proposed austerity package, sending a positive signal to a key meeting of euro ministers later today.

European Commission takes hard line on Greece

The Greek vote has widened the gap between Athens and its creditors, according to the European Commission, indicating that the referendum was all but irrelevant as the same problems remain.

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us