Early Returns Show Greeks Decisively Rejecting Terms of E.U. Bailout
Sunday, July 5, 2015 2:38 PM EDT
Greek voters appeared to decisively reject a bailout deal offered by the country’s creditors two weeks ago, an outcome that could redefine the country’s place in Europe and shake the Continent’s financial stability.
As celebrants began to gather in Athens’s central Syntagma Square, the Interior Ministry projected that more than 60 percent of the voters had said no to a deal that would have imposed greater austerity measures on the beleaguered country.
With 40 percent of the vote in, the actual count tracked the projections, with 61 percent voting no and 39 percent yes, the Interior Ministry said.
The no vote would be a triumph for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who had campaigned for that as a way to give him more bargaining power in negotiating a new deal. But it also raised the possibility that the creditors would walk away, leaving Greece facing default, financial collapse and expulsion from the eurozone — and even, in the worst case, from the European Union.
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NYTimes.com
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