Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday in the early morning hours called a surprise referendum on whether Greece should accept the demands of the banksters in the ongoing financial debt talks.
In a nationally televised address after midnight in Athens, Tsipras announced the July 5 vote and excoriated a take it-or-leave it offer as a violation of European Union rules and “common decency.”
“Our responsibility is for the future of our country. This responsibility obliges us to respond to the ultimatum through the sovereign will of the Greek people,” Tsipras said in the televised address.“I call on the Greek people to rule on the blackmailing ultimatum asking us to accept a strict and humiliating austerity without end and without prospect.”
Many members of his Syriza party advocate defaulting rather than backing down from their anti-austerity policies and Greek ministers, including the defense chief, urged the country of 11 million people to vote “no.”
“It’s a very brave decision,” said one Greek citizen quoted by Bloomberg. “The European Union are dictators - they are bank dictators, and now we get a chance to tell them what we think.”
The EuroGroup response to the referendum was the denial to Greece of any further emergency loans.
“I am very negatively surprised by today’s decisions by the Greek government,” said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup. “This is a sad decision for Greece because it has closed the door on further talks.”
-RW
UPDATE
EuroGroup's Official Statement to Greece
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