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People read newspaper headlines showing the results of Greece’s referendum, in Athens, on Monday.
Louisa Gouliamaki /AFP/Getty Images
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Louisa Gouliamaki /AFP/Getty Images
People read newspaper headlines showing the results of Greece’s referendum, in Athens, on Monday.
Louisa Gouliamaki /AFP/Getty Images
Greece and its European Union partners are beginning to sort out what’s next, after the country voted en masse to reject a German-led bailout plan that would have given the country more credit to pay its debt in exchange for tough austerity measures.
As The New York Times reports, now that the vote is in, the hard part begins. Using the vote as leverage, Greece will try to renegotiate more favorable terms for its bailout, but its European Partners could insist on tough terms, which could ultimately result in Greece’s exit from the European Union.
Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem called the vote “regrettable for the future of Greece,” and he called an emergency meeting on Tuesday. CNBC reports that EU leaders expect Greece to put forth a new proposal soon.
Meanwhile, the vote had its first, concrete consequence on Monday when Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned.
In a statement, Varoufakis said he expects his resignation will help Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras negotiate better terms for his country.
“Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my… ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement,” Varoufakis said. “For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today.”
Varoufakis went on to call the vote “splendid” and the “historic” moment in which Greece “rose up against debt bondage.”
“I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride,” he said.
We’ll follow the news on Greece throughout the day and we’ll update this post as we hear more.