Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calls on Greeks to vote “no” to reforms
Even if Greece votes against accepting the reforms put forward by creditors, it will not be pushed out of the Eurozone, according to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
During an interview televised on the Greek ERT channel on Monday night, he called on the people of Greece to vote “no” in the 5 July referendum, so that Athens has the mandate to seek a better deal.
We’re asking you to reject it with all our strength. I don't think they want to throw us out of the Euro and they are not going to do that because the financial cost is huge.
He added that the lack of a deal being reached was not the fault of the Syriza party, and criticised European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for favouring the IMF in negotiations.
“In these five months we've done whatever was humanly possible to reach an agreement,” he said.
The fears that Greece may be forced out of the Eurozone are intensifying. On Sunday, the ECB capped its emergency funding, prompting the government to close all banks on Monday while it imposed capital controls.
Earlier today, Athens confirmed it would not be able to pay back the €1.6bn (£1.14bn) it owes the IMF tomorrow, leading to sharp declines in equities across the world. S&P reacted by downgrading the country's credit rating from CCC to CCC-.
Tsipras said during the interview that he's still prepared to negotiate, but Eurozone ministers have been adamant that Greece must meet the 11pm deadline tomorrow or else default.
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