Greeks seek to pull nation back from brink
Voters set to decide bailout
ATHENS — After five months of bitter backroom talks and poisonous public smack-downs between officials in Greece and Europe, the fate of this nation on the brink will shift into the hands of the Greek people today.
A substantial majority of voters in this nation of 11 million are expected to turn out for a referendum that will ask them to answer either “yes” or “no” to a jargon-saturated question about Europe’s nowexpired bailout offer.
Although the ballot doesn’t say so, Greece’s future in Europe, the survival of its government and the welfare of a population that has endured the most profound economic collapse of any developed nation since World War II could all be on the line.
Greeks will vote after a week that has been perhaps the most difficult for the country since its debt crisis began nearly six years ago. Banks shut, with ATMs dispensing a meager maximum of 60 euros per customer.
On Saturday, officials in Greece and around Europe sought to persuade a population that polls show is split almost exactly even between “yes” and “no.”
Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis accused the country’s European creditors of “terrorism,” saying they hope to scare Greek voters into defying their own government and choosing “yes.”
“Why have they forced us to close the banks? To frighten people,” Varoufakis said in an interview Saturday.
Varoufakis said he did not believe creditors were serious about kicking Greece out of the euro. Varoufakis also vowed that regardless of how Greece votes, the country will sign a bailout deal with Europe on Monday.
European officials have scoffed at such claims, with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble reiterating on Saturday that any new talks would be “very difficult.”
Schäuble insisted that the collateral damage to other European countries from a Greek meltdown would be limited. But in a potential softening of what had been a relentlessly hard-line stance, he told the German tabloid Bild that Greece may only “temporarily” leave the euro even if the country rejects Europe’s bailout offer.
Greece and Europe have been on a collision course since January, when Greek voters elected the radical leftist Syriza government on a platform of ending the strict austerity imposed here as a condition for massive bailouts.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called the surprise referendum a little over a week ago, hoping to gain leverage in his bargaining over the terms of the country’s cash-for cuts deals.
But Syriza officials say they believe their paymasters are now trying to bring down the government through a “yes” vote.
Before negotiations broke off, they say, they were trapped by the incoherent demands of the creditors, with the International Monetary Fund demanding tough austerity but offering to slash Greece’s debts and European officials easing up on austerity but promising no debt forgiveness.
“So we had the worst of both worlds,” said Tasos Koronakis, head of the secretariat that sets Syriza’s political policies. “That’s the reason why we decided to turn to the people ... .”
Greek banks have about $1.1 billion of reserves remaining, enough to last through the end of Monday or Tuesday morning, the head of the National Bank of Greece, Louka Katseli, said Friday.
The European Central Bank can choose to bolster the amount of emergency assistance it gives Greek lenders, or pull the plug, which would cause the banking sector to collapse.