Statement of the Eurogroup President Following the Referendum in Greece

Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem has issued the following statement:

I take note of the outcome of the Greek referendum. This result is very regrettable for the future of Greece. For recovery of the Greek economy, difficult measures and reforms are inevitable. We will now wait for the initiatives of the Greek authorities. The Eurogroup will discuss the state of play on Tuesday 7 July.

I'm calling pop corn time.  Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras thinks he has a stronger hand  with which to negotiate as a result of the referendum. The Eurogroup overlords are in no mood to grant concessions.

Reuters informs:

France and Germany called for an emergency summit of euro zone leaders to discuss Greece's stunning referendum vote on Sunday to reject bailout terms, as calls mounted in Berlin to cut Athens loose from Europe's common currency.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy said Athens had wrecked any hope of compromise with its euro zone partners by overwhelmingly rejecting further austerity.

Merkel and French President Francois Hollande conferred by telephone and will meet in Paris on Monday afternoon to seek a joint response. Responding to their call, European Council President Donald Tusk announced that euro zone leaders would meet in Brussels on Tuesday evening (1600 GMT).

German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, leader of Merkel's centre-left Social Democratic junior coalition partner, said it was hard to conceive of fresh negotiations on lending more billions to Athens after Greeks voted against more austerity.

Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had "torn down the last bridges on which Greece and Europe could have moved towards a compromise," Gabriel told the Tagesspiegel daily.

The only indication that a deal might be cut is the surprise resignation of Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. It appears that he has resigned as a result of, get this, Eurogroup pressure. If he is replaced with someone more willing to squeeze the Greek people with more taxes and less in government pension payouts, then a deal could be reached---though a deal that will be terrible for the Greek people.

-RW