ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The latest from the bailout referendum in Greece (all times local):
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7:30 p.m.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Paris on Monday to discuss the outcome of the Greek referendum with French President Francois Hollande.
Merkel’s office said Sunday that she will fly to Paris in the evening for a “joint assessment of the situation after the Greek referendum and to continue the close German-French cooperation on this issue.”
Soon after polls closed, Hollande made a similar announcement, saying he would have a working dinner with Merkel on Monday evening to “evaluate the consequences” of the vote.
Earlier in the day, the French economy minister said the German and French leaders had no disagreements when it came to dealing with the situation in Greece.
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7:20 p.m.
The governing left-wing Syriza party’s European member of parliament says that “Greek people are proving they want to remain in Europe” as equal members “and not as a debt colony.”
Dimitris Papadimoulis said that the country should wait for the official and final results of Sunday’s referendum, and called on his fellow countrymen to remain calm. Three opinion polls conducted during the voting indicate a tight race with a likely win by the “no” vote.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called Sunday’s referendum last weekend, urging voters to reject creditor reform proposals. Opposition parties and many European officials have warned that a “no” vote, however, could endanger Greece’s position in Europe’s joint currency, the euro.
“A new effort is beginning,” he said, adding that Tsipras would move fast to conclude a deal with Greece’s creditors.
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7:10 p.m.
Three opinion polls carried out during Greece’s bailout referendum, which could affect the country’s future in the eurozone, indicate the “no” vote will win.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called Sunday’s referendum last weekend, urging voters to reject creditor reform proposals.
Opposition parties and many European officials have warned that a “no” vote, however, could endanger Greece’s position in Europe’s joint currency, the euro.
The vote was held amid banking restrictions imposed last Monday, with Greeks lining up at ATMs across the country to withdraw a maximum 60 euros ($66) per day. Banks have been shut all week, and it is uncertain when they will reopen.
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6:55 p.m.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says that whatever the result in Greece, its future will be a difficult one.
Rajoy says the eurozone has rules and regulations “to ensure its own survival.”
He says that “Europe has always shown its solidarity with Greece, but the euro cannot be an `a la carte’ club in which you can pick and choose.”
Rajoy also said Sunday that “Greece needs to grow, create jobs, and to do so it must have policies that work to that effect. Demagogy always ends up crashing into reality.”
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4:40 p.m.
Even if Greek voters strongly favor “yes” or “no” in the bailout referendum, neither result leads to a clear answer for what Greece should do about its overstretched finances.
A “yes” result would likely produce a national unity government with a new election to follow – but that would take time, and without financial assistance, the chances of a full, chaotic default would increase.
Since Greece is no longer in a bailout program, it has to negotiate a new one with creditors that involves even more money for its debt-ridden government and the banks and new economic austerity measures. That means banking restrictions on money withdrawals and transfers may remain in place even longer than anticipated.
Despite the Greek government’s assertion that a “no” vote will not lead to a “Grexit” – a Greek exit from using the common euro currency – most experts agree it would open up more uncertain financial outcomes.
A number of European politicians, including Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the top eurozone official, have said a “no” vote would jeopardize Greece’s place in the 19-nation eurozone.
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3:05 p.m.
With four hours of voting to go, Greeks are turning out in solid numbers to vote on their financial future.
Private Mega TV channel says turnout has been markedly high, now standing at 35 percent, and lines have been seen at polling stations in Athens. Turnout must be above 40 percent for the referendum to be valid.
High turnouts are normal in Greece because voting is mandatory – although that law has not been enforced in recent years.
In the country’s first referendum since 1974, Greece’s 9.8 million voters are choosing Sunday whether to accept demands by international creditors for more austerity measures in return for bailout loans.
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2:10 p.m.
Germany’s foreign minister says a `no’ vote in Greece’s austerity referendum won’t make a future compromises with the country’s creditors easier – “on the contrary.”
Still, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Greeks have a right to vote on the future of their country and Greece will remain a member of the 28-nation European Union even if the referendum rejects the austerity demands being made of Greece by international creditors.
Steinmeier told Berlin’s Tagesspiegel am Sonntag newspaper that the debt situation in Greece, the unsolved problem of how to handle tens of thousands of migrants flooding in across the Mediterranean and Britain’s demands for EU reforms are straining the EU’s foundations.
He warned Sunday that a “Grexit” – Greece dropping out of the common euro currency used by 19 nations- would harm Europe’s credibility in the world.
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1:45 p.m.
Opinion polls this week have shown a generation divide in the Greek referendum – with the “no” vote against more austerity measures far more popular among younger Greek voters than older ones.
Retired school teacher Themis Hatziyannaki, 84, voted `yes’ Sunday at an Athens high school, saying she wants to continue enjoying the privileges of her Greek and European citizenship.
But she also says she understands that many young people want to vote “no” to express their anger at Greece’s creditors. Unemployment in Greece for young people under 25 stands at a whopping 51.9 percent.
Hatziyannaki says “I understand them, because when I was young I was a rebel.” But she said young people also have to consider what’s best for Greece’s future and look at what older generations have endured.
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1:15 p.m.
Greece’s finance minister says the referendum gives Greeks the opportunity to decide on the austerity “ultimatum” they were handed by other countries in the 19-nation eurozone.
Yanis Varoufakis says the eurozone’s “massive failures” led to demands for more austerity measures that Greeks themselves needed to express their views on. He said the vote on Sunday “gives hope to Europe that a common currency and democracy can coexist.”
Varoufakis spoke as he voted along with his 90-year-old father Giorgos in the southern Athens suburb of Faliro.
This is the first Greek referendum since 1974, when Greeks voted to abolish the monarchy.
(This corrects the spelling of Varoufakis’ first name to Yanis).
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12:45 p.m.
The Greek referendum does not address whether Greece should abandon the euro currency or leave the 28-member European Union, but many voters believe those issues are at stake.
Polls published Friday showed the two sides in a dead heat over whether to accept creditors’ demands for more austerity or reject them. But an overwhelming majority of those polled – about 75 percent – wanted Greece to remain among the 19 European nations using the shared euro currency.
Here’s the yes-or-no question Greeks face Sunday – and it’s not an easy one: “Must the agreement plan submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the Eurogroup of 25 June, 2015, and comprised of two parts which make up their joint proposal, be accepted? The first document is titled `reforms for the completion of the current program and beyond’ and the second `Preliminary debt sustainability analysis.'”
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11:40 a.m.
Greece’s prime minister says the country’s austerity referendum is sending the message that Greeks are embracing a united Europe but want to live “with dignity.”
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after casting a `no’ ballot Sunday that the vote demonstrates the Greek people’s right to choose their own future. He said although many Greeks may pick a different choice than the government, “no one can ignore the will of the people to take their lives in their hands.”
Tsipras said the referendum “defeats fear and ultimatums.”
Tsipras wants the “no” side to win. He says that will booster his negotiating position to secure a better deal with creditors for loans to avoid a default and a banking collapse.
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11:20 a.m.
Which will help Greece more – voting “yes” or “no” to accepting more austerity demands from creditors?
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says a “no” vote would strengthen his hand to negotiate a better deal.
But proponents of a “yes” vote, including a parade of former prime ministers and the main opposition party, say backing his government will jeopardize Greece’s place in the club of 19 nations who use the common euro currency. Instead, they argue by voting “yes” Greece would get a new deal quickly to shore up its sinking economy.
Conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras cast his ballot Sunday, saying “we vote `yes’ to Greece. We vote `yes’ to Europe.”
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10:25 a.m.
The Greek referendum on whether or not to accept bailout demands by creditors is causing deep divisions, even among individual families.
Dimitris Danikoglous says he is voting “yes” because he fears Greece would be in danger if it leaves the European Union. His daughter Alexandra is voting “no” because she is tired of richer European nations bossing Greece around.
His son, Nikolas, is on his side – and he thinks polarized Greece may be on the verge of a civil war. His wife Dimitra distrusts both the Yes and the No campaigns and doesn’t plan to vote in Sunday’s momentous referendum.
In their apartment in the working-class Athens neighborhood of Tavros, the family members squabble over espresso frappes and fruit juice. Still, they are united in their belief that only as a strong family can they weather the coming storm.
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7 a.m.
Polls have opened across Greece in a hastily called referendum on whether the EU country will accept the tough creditor conditions attached to loans needed to avoid default and a banking collapse.
A “no” may lead to a chaotic departure from the shared euro currency. Even “yes” is no guarantee that creditors will agree to lend the billions more euros needed to get the country back on its feet.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is banking on fellow Greeks to deliver a resounding “no” in the popular vote that he believes will give him strong leverage in his negotiations with creditors – the EU and the International Monetary Fund – to swing a softer bailout deal.
Proponents of a “yes” vote, including the main opposition party, say backing the government will jeopardize Greece’s place in the 19-nation eurozone. Instead, they argue voting “yes” will allow Greece to get a new bailout deal quickly to shore up the economy.
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greeks lined up at polling stations and ATMs alike Sunday as the country voted on its financial future, choosing in a referendum whether to accept creditors’ demands for more austerity in return for rescue loans or defiantly reject the deal.
Early indications suggested a high turnout after a week of intense campaigning left Greek cities littered with fliers and posters – and opinion polls showed voters evenly split on the first referendum Greece has held in 41 years.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was gambling the future of his 5-month-old left-wing government on the hastily called poll, insisted that a “no” vote would strengthen his hand to negotiate a better deal with creditors while a “yes” result would mean capitulating to their harsh demands.
The opposition, meanwhile, accuses Tsipras of jeopardizing the country’s membership in the 19-nation club that uses the euro and says a “yes” vote is about keeping the common currency.
“Today, democracy is defeating fear … I am very optimistic,” Tsipras said after voting in in Athens, surrounded by dozens of journalists.
His high-stakes standoff with lenders from the eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund resulted in Greece defaulting on its debts this week and shutting down its banks to avoid their collapse.
European officials have openly urged Greeks to vote against the government’s recommendation.
“I hope people say `yes,'” European Parliament President Martin Schulz told German public radio. “If after the referendum, the majority is a `no,’ they will have to introduce another currency because the euro will no longer be available for a means of payment.”
As voters flocked to polling stations, large lines once again formed at ATM machines so worried Greeks could withdraw their daily limit of 60 euros ($67) – part of the banking restrictions imposed June 28 in an attempt to halt a bank run.
Daniel Tsangaridis , a 35-year-old Athens resident, said he didn’t expect banks to reopen soon, despite a government pledge to do so on Tuesday.
“It’s not going to happen in the next 48 hours,” he said. “If the situation improves and we can have a deal, then the banks will open.”
Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party came to power in January after a six-year recession. Since then, the standoff between Athens and its international lenders has grown more bitter, and early signs of some economic growth and recovering employment in Greece have disappeared. The debt-wracked nation also suffered repeated ratings downgrades and lost access to billions of euros after its existing bailout deal expired last week.
Polls published Friday showed the two sides in the referendum in a dead heat with an overwhelming majority – about 75 percent – of people wanting Greece to remain in the euro currency. Polls also showed a generation divide, with younger voters favoring the “no” side more than older voters.
“Today, we Greeks decide on the fate of our country,” conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras said. “We vote `yes’ to Greece. We vote `yes’ to Europe.”
The sense of urgency was palpable as Greeks struggled to decipher a convoluted referendum question after being bombarded with frenzied messages warning of the country’s swiftly approaching financial collapse.
Athens voter Nikolaos Papadopoulos said he cast a “yes” ballot.
“I believe in a democracy, in a united Europe, in a world with a good economy. And I want us all to work together to move forward and not to be retrogressive,” he said.
`No’ voter Ioannis Nikolaou disagreed.
“I voted for Tsipras and want to vote `no’ because I’ve lived in Europe and know what rights Europeans and Greeks have … they don’t have the same rights,” he said.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said he will step down if the “yes” vote wins.
“Today, after five years of failures and mistakes, the Greek people have the opportunity to decide on the last ultimatum (by creditors),” Varoufakis said as he and his 90-year-old father voted at a seaside suburb of Athens. “This is a sacred moment – a moment hope for all of Europe … that a common currency and democracy can coexist.”
Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis, meanwhile, denied reports he has been selected as the government’s candidate to head a possible national unity coalition if the current government resigns.
Even if the results Sunday lean strongly toward the “yes” or “no” side, neither result leads to a clear answer for what Greece should do about its overstretched finances.
A “yes” result would likely produce a national unity government with a new election to follow – but that would take time and without financial assistance, the chances of a full, chaotic default would increase.
Greece is no longer in a bailout program since its previous package expired. It now has to negotiate a new one with its creditors that involves even more money for the government and banks and new economic austerity measures. That will take time – meaning the banking restrictions on money withdrawals and transfers may remain in place for longer than anticipated.
Despite the Greek government’s assertion that a “no” vote will not lead to a euro exit, most experts agree it would open up more uncertain financial outcomes.
A number of European politicians, including Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the top eurozone official, have said a “no” vote would jeopardize Greece’s place in the 19-nation eurozone. Investors are also likely to believe a “no” win increases the chance of a so-called “Grexit,” where Greece returns to its own old currency.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said a “no” win won’t make a future compromises with the country’s creditors easier – “on the contrary.” But he said he expected Greece to remain in the 28-nation European Union no matter what the result of Sunday’s vote.
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Online:
Official referendum website: http://www.referendum2015gov.gr/en/
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Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros, Greg Katz, Iuliia Subbotovskaia and Eftehia Katsareas in Athens, Greece, and Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.
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