Greece Crisis: Prime Minister Pushes Ahead With Referendum, Slams Talk of Euro Exit

Greece’s government pressed ahead Wednesday with its plan to put austerity measures to voters after European creditors rebuffed its latest proposal for a new aid program. But finance ministers were still discussing the country’s situation and nothing seemed set in stone.

 

Many European officials had ruled out any deal with Greece before a referendum called by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for Sunday. He is asking Greeks whether they want to accept creditors’ reform proposals in return for rescue loans.

 

Tsipras on Wednesday defiantly said the referendum would go ahead and called on the people to vote “no.” In a televised address to the nation, he said a “no” result would not mean that Greece would have to leave the euro, as many European officials have argued.

 

Rather, Tsipras claimed, it would give the government a stronger negotiating position with creditors.

 

“There are those who insist on linking the result of the referendum with the country’s future in the euro,” Tsipras said. “They even say I have a so-called secret plan to take the country out of the EU if the vote is ‘no.’ They are lying with the full knowledge of that fact.”

 

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