Greek Minister: ‘I’d Rather Cut My Arm Off’ Than Accept European Union Deal

Steinmeier spoke to reporters Thursday after addressing a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Earlier, he told the ABC that the government “may very well” quit if the public went against it in Sunday’s plebiscite and voted for more austerity in return for worldwide bailout funds.

Tsipras, Varoufakis and their Syriza party are urging Greeks to vote “no”, arguing that Greece can remain in the single currency on better terms if they do so – a contention rejected by creditors.

He said a “no” victory would be interpreted around the world as a “choice to leave from the heart of Europe” and that it would be “a first step toward the exit”. Greece made “a cheeky request for new loans even after calling a referendum on the terms of a different lending facility it has already rejected, which will have expired by the time of the poll”.

Under the German law that governs the country’s participation in European bailouts, the government needs parliamentary approval both to start and conclude negotiations over a bailout, giving German lawmakers a double veto on any rescue deal.

Greeks will vote on whether to accept a series of budget measures that creditors proposed in exchange for loans.

Business associations and the countrys largest labor union have urged the government to cancel the referendum, while two private citizens have appealed to the Council of State, the countrys highest court, to rule the vote unconstitutional. The government is pushing for a ‘no.’.

Hollande was speaking in Cotonou, Benin.

“Comments from Eurozone finance ministers suggest that the door for new negotiations in the days ahead of the referendum is closed, though not fully locked”, they said in a note.

The Eurogroup, the euro zone finance ministers who met in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss Greece’s offer, were quick to shut down any dialogue too. “That suggestion is simply wrong”.

Luis de Guindos has told Spain’s Cadena SER radio that a “yes” vote would amount to a vote of no confidence in the Greek government.

“All I know is that that we are all going crazy here”, said Anisia Kaklamanou, among those waiting to get into a bank in central Athens.

Opponents say he is risking the country’s future – asking voters to weigh in on a bailout offer that expired at midnight on Tuesday.

Greece’s European partners have made clear they regard the vote as a choice of whether Greeks want to stay in the euro.

He told Bloomberg TV “I prefer to cut my arm off” than sign a rescue deal that does not include a debt relief provision.

Many of Athens” partners have warned over the past week that a “No’ vote would mean cutting bridges with Europe and driving Greece’s crippled financial system into outright bankruptcy. That could take the form of a reduction in the debt, extending repayments way into the future and slashing the interest rates payable on the debts.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said he will resign if there is a “Yes” vote in Sunday’s referendum over recent creditor proposals.

Asked in an interview on Bloomberg Television whether he would still be finance minister by Monday evening if a majority backs the reforms demanded by creditors in Sunday’s referendum, Varoufakis replied, “

I will not.”

Even before he was elected prime minister in January, stunning the country’s long dominant center-left and center-right parties, Tsipras compared the creditors’ demands to “fiscal waterboarding”.

With its economy teetering near the abyss, Greece suffered its fourth downgrade this week when Moody’s rating agency slashed its rating further into junk status, just above default.

Real GDP in Greece would fall 20% below the baseline after four years, said S&P.

Meanwhile, Greece’s banking system continued to teeter on the brink of collapse.

“One illusion must be swept from the table: that if the outcome is negative then everything can be renegotiated and you will end up with an easier and more attractive package”, said Mr Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister.

(AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos). Demonstrators destroy a European flag during a rally by supporters of the no vote to the upcoming referendum in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Wednesday, July 1, 2015.

Beware of a Greek debt crisis bearing mixed messages. “France is stronger than in 2010”.

“Our efforts are focused on overcoming the crisis as fast as possible – with a solution that preserves the dignity and sovereignty of our people”, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said.