Eurozone in tailspin after Greece votes resounding ‘No’ to austerity

ATHENS (AFP) – European leaders were on Monday scrambling for a response to a resounding ''No'' from Greek voters in a referendum on austerity which could send the country crashing out of the eurozone.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to meet with French leader Francois Hollande in Paris after Greece overwhelmingly rejected international creditors' tough bailout terms Sunday.

The pair spoke by telephone late Sunday, declaring the decision must ''be respected'' and calling for an emergency eurozone summit which European Union president Donald Tusk said would be held on Tuesday.

A flurry of other meetings will also be held Monday as European leaders sized up the implications of the vote, a victory for Greece's radical left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who insisted it did not mean a ''rupture'' with Europe.

Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Monday said he was resigning, in a shock announcement despite the government having secured a resounding victory for the 'No' vote in the country's bailout resignation.

''Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted 'partners', for my... 'absence' from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today,'' Varoufakis, who had often clashed with creditors in negotiations over the past months, said on his blog after announcing the news on Twitter.

With the ramifications still unclear and some analysts putting the chances of a ''Grexit'' at ''very high,” European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker was to hold a teleconference on Monday morning with European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, Tusk and Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem.