The surprise announcement by the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, an upcoming referendum on the demands of creditors, reinforces the sense of confusion, when opened on Saturday afternoon a meeting of European finance ministers that was supposed to be decisive. Athens she and sabotaged the negotiations in an already difficult issue? Or the stroke of Greek strength he will encourage the country’s creditors to concede an agreement?
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4 p.m. National Front, Left Party and MRC are the only ones in France to applaud the announcement of the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, a referendum on July 5 on the possible agreement between Athens and its creditors. The translation of the speech by Alexis Tsipras televised figure by example on the blog of Jean-Luc Mélenchon
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3:45 p.m. The “plan B” ( namely Grexit, and its consequences), resurfaced in some. The Europeans had already started discussing for some time a “plan B” if Athens fails to meet this deadline and would be placed in default. Now, “Plan B is becoming Plan A”, claimed one voice Finland Alexander Stubb and Spaniard Luis de Guindos. “We must accelerate our preparations” to deal with this eventuality, confirmed to AFP a European source close to the negotiations.
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3:15 p.m. Greece will ask the Eurogroup to extend a few weeks the aid plan because it receives the calling of a referendum in a week, said Saturday his Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis. On arrival at the Eurogroup meeting of finance ministers of the eurozone, Yanis Varoufakis said: “We will offer them that, in these circumstances, there is an extension of a few weeks to allow the people to be heard “. “Then we are committed as a government to do everything we tell voters,” said he said.
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2:30 p.m. This announcement is “a sad decision for Greece and” close the door to further discussions “ unleashed Saturday the president of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Greece has “terminated negotiations” with its creditors “unilaterally”, ruled even more clearly the Minister German Fiances Wolfgang Schäuble.
“I am very negatively surprised” by the news, said Mr. Dijsselbloem on arrival at a meeting of finance ministers of the euro area devoted to the financial survival of Greece. “We will listen to the Greek Minister, and we will discuss the consequences,” he said.
The IMF chief Christine Lagarde, stakeholder size of the file in respect of creditor and supervisor of Greek reforms was less virulent, saying the IMF would “continue working” to restore financial stability in Greece
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In a harrowing countdown
The announcement, at night , was rushing the most worried about ATMs. Sources in the Bank of Greece said that it “was doing everything to ensure that distributors are well equipped with tickets”
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M. Tsipras announced at 1:00 am on television this proposed referendum on July 5, to accept or to reject the proposal of the creditors (EU, ECB, IMF), made Friday and already rejected by Athens.
Motivated no doubt by a busy schedule, this time could not however have nothing improvised, while all markets were closed for the weekend, sparking an account agonizing countdown until they reopen on Monday morning.
For if nothing moves between Athens and its creditors in the Eurogroup in Brussels Saturday, financial markets could reopen in pandemonium , the prospect of a Greek default to the IMF, or even its exit from the euro zone and a disintegrating it.
Before announcement, it was already virtually certain that Athens would not, in a day or two, not the material time to pay the € 1.5 billion it owes to the IMF on Tuesday since a possible agreement must be ratified by including Greek and German parliaments.
This small delay would probably caused “no adverse consequences,” according to a debt expert in Athens, if an agreement was found in the meantime. Otherwise, difficult to predict what can happen.
Send “dignity of a message to the world”
Before a distributor of Thessaloniki, Kalpakidou Maria, 42, admitted coming to” withdraw as much money as she could to turn his store next week. ” “If we do not agree by 4 (July) the banking system will collapse”, she lamented.
Others let escape anger, “Tsipras has to behave as a man, take responsibility He can not play with the future of my children That holds elections, rather than a referendum..”, launched Vassileos, a physiologist 39 years.
The semi-official ANA news agency also reported increased attendance at service stations, always well stocked Saturday mid-day, however.
Alpha bank seemed to have had the nose. On its website included the announcement of “computer maintenance” preventing electronic transactions between Saturday 11:30 ET Monday 8:00 (Greek hours). Nothing like in its three major competitors.
M. Tsipras, unlike his radical leftist party Syriza, and several of his ministers, has not explicitly asked to vote “no”, even though his message was clear: “I ask you to decide whether we need to accept outrageous ultimatum (…) I am sure that your choice will honor the history of our country and send a message to the dignity of the whole world “.
The opposition parties were wind standing against this announcement. Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras Right accused the government of “serving the lobby of the drachma,” that is to say to want a euro exit.
M. Tsipras, who said he would draw the consequences of the vote, also plays big in this case: a recent poll for Marc Alpha TV showed that 50.2% of Greeks were for a deal at any price, 37.4% for a break with the creditors, 12.4% were undecided.
In 2011, another prime minister, socialist George Papandreou, for his part had been forced to resign after wanted to organize a similar consultation on a plan imposed by its creditors in Athens
The discussion in Parliament on whether to hold the referendum. – a priori a formality – began about 10:30 GMT .
The vote itself, originally scheduled for 7:00 p.m. local (1600 GMT), was rejected at midnight enough to leave perhaps more time the parties to study at the Eurogroup shaped poker game scheduled for 1200 GMT in Brussels.
Sources AFP, Reuters
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