Greece referendum: Greeks say 'No' to creditors: Prime Minister resigns
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said Greeks made a "brave choice" in voting to reject the terms of an international bailout in Sunday's referendum, BBC reports. Thousands celebrated in the streets after hearing the final result was 61.3% "No", against 38.7% "Yes". But European officials warned that it could see the country ejected from the eurozone and the euro fell across the board in Asian markets on Monday. Greece's finance minister, who often clashed with creditors, has resigned. Yanis Varoufakis wrote on his blog that he had been "made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted 'partners', for my... 'absence' from its meetings". European officials had lined up all last week to warn that a No vote would mean exit from the euro, but Greece’s voters decided to call what Syriza insisted was a bluff. In a statement, the European Commission (EC) said it “takes note of and respects the result of the referendum in Greece”. Addressing the nation on television, the Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, thanked voters for making a “very brave choice” and said the result showed that “democracy won’t be blackmailed”. It would also mean that debt relief would be “on the negotiating table”, he insisted, something that eurozone leaders have previously resisted. Greece owes about €323bn , about 60 per cent of which is owed to eurozone countries, Independent.co.uk reports. “The Greek people today gave an answer to what [kind of] Europe we want. What we want is a Europe of solidarity,” Mr Tsipras added.
