EU’s Juncker tells Greeks referendum will shape future: spokesman

“It is our duty to keep Greece in the eurozone”, he said.

In Frankfurt, the European Central Bank froze its emergency credit line to Greek lenders following Greece’s failure to repay $1.7 billion to the International Monetary Fund.

By voting “No” Greeks would provide Tsipras with leverage he does not now have to negotiate debt relief and more realistic economic policies. So in the end Tsipras walked away and called a referendum.

The banks closed on Monday to prevent remaining funds fleeing after Tsipras announced he was calling the referendum. About 1,000 bank branches around the country were ordered by the government to reopen W…

Greece has gotten commitments of $244 billion from various countries and organizations as part of two bailouts, in 2010 and 2012, The Telegraph estimates.

“I do wonder about all that money we got over all those years”, she said. “And I don’t know what to do on Sunday: vote “yes”, vote “no””. Europe’s Stoxx index was down slightly on Thursday, but markets in London and Switzerland rose, while Toronto stocks rose on Thursday.

The question on Sundays ballot is whether voters accept or reject a reform proposal made by creditors during negotiations last week.

Voter surveys have given no reliable indication of how the plebiscite will play out.

Given a volatile public mood and a string of recent election results that ran counter to opinion poll predictions, the result is in effect completely open.

The vote leaves Greece in uncharted waters: risking a banking collapse that could force it out of the euro.

But that particular proposal is no longer on the table.

As the conditions were attached to a bailout that expired on Tuesday, however, many people were questioning the validity of such a vote – with one man polled accusing Tsipras of “stupidity, utter madness”.

If European governments balked and refused to face the facts, Greece would then be forced to abandon the euro, issue its own currency and remark the debt held by the Troika and private creditors in drachma.

Yanis Varoufakis said Greece won’t “extend and pretend” that it can pay its debts, vowing to quit as finance minister if voters don’t support the government in Sunday’s referendum.

June 27: Europeans rule out further talks with Greece over new bailout terms after Tsipras’ surprise announcement.

“That suggestion is simply wrong”, Dijsselbloem told lawmakers in the Netherlands.

“We desperately want to stay in the euro”, Varoufakis said.

An investor report put out by Deutsche Bank agreed, and said: “Ultimately, the continued strong pressure on the Greek economy and the government’s weak cash position will remain important catalysts for future developments, irrespective of this weekend’s referendum”. If they say no, as Tsipras is demanding, the likely effect is full-scale default and exit from the euro system.

“But I will help whoever is, to push the agreement through there”, he added. The queues are nothing next to all the suicides, the soup kitchens and the homeless on the streets of Athens.”.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Europe remains committed to avoiding “catastrophe” for Greece and keeping it in the eurozone.

He believes a “No” vote would bolster his hand in bailout negotiations which would happen “within 48 hours” of the referendum outcome.

Eurozone finance ministers chose to put the talks with Greece on hold till the vote takes place.

One poster plastered in central Greece shows a picture of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble with the slogan: “For five years he’s been sucking your blood”.

European Union officials said it would be hard to give Greece easier terms, not least because its economy has plunged back into recession since Tsipras’ Syriza party won power in January.

In an interview with Bloomberg Thursday, Varoufakis said he would rather “cut off his arm” than accept an austerity debt deal that does not include restructuring and debt relief.

The Council of Europe, a pan-European human rights body, has criticised the vote, saying it was being organised too quickly and that the question was not clear.