The architects of Greece's international bailout struggled to
respond to a resounding "no" in Sunday's referendum on the
austerity measures they had tied to the aid program.
Eurozone leaders said they would meet in Brussels Tuesday
evening to discuss the next steps. But initial reactions suggested
that the 18 other eurozone members may have difficulties sticking
to the common line they have drawn over the past five months: that
without more budget cuts and pension overhauls, Greece shouldn't
expect any more bailout loans.
"This result is very regrettable for the future of Greece," said
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who presides over
the talks with his eurozone counterparts. "For recovery of the
Greek economy, difficult measures and reforms are inevitable. We
will now wait for the initiatives of the Greek authorities."
Some of Mr. Dijsselbloem's colleagues were even harsher toward
the Greeks.
The "rejection of reforms cannot mean that they will get the
money easier," Slovakia's finance minister, Peter Kazimir, said in
a Twitter message. That, he warned in a separate tweet, could soon
push Greece out of the currency union: "The nightmare of the 'euro
architects' that a country could leave the club seems like a
realistic scenario after Greece voted No today."
But other eurozone policy makers were still looking for ways to
keep Greece in their midst. "Italy has always worked for a
supportive and more integrated Europe. It was true yesterday, and
it will still be true tomorrow," Italian Economy Minister Pier
Carlo Padoan said in a Twitter message.
Earlier Sunday, before polling stations had closed, France's
economy minister also signaled openness for more talks. "Even if
the Greeks vote no, our responsibility tomorrow will be to not do a
Versailles Treaty for the eurozone," Emmanuel Macron said,
referring to the treaty at the end of World War I that imposed
heavy sanctions on Germany.
"It's not because one side thinks they've won a referendum that
we can crush a people," Mr. Macron added.
The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm that
has helped police rescue loans for Greece over the past five years,
said Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker "is consulting
tonight and tomorrow with the democratically elected leaders of the
other 18 eurozone members as well as with the heads of the EU
institutions."
An EU official said that Mr. Juncker hadn't reached out to Greek
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and that no talks on further bailout
aid were taking place. "They will see each other at the euro
summit," the official said. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
French President Franç ois Hollande both spoke to Mr. Tsipras
Sunday night.
Antiausterity and anti-euro parties from the right and the left
meanwhile hailed the vote as a victory for their own ideas.
"Today democracy has won in Greece," Pablo Iglesias, the leader
of Spain's leftist Podemos party said in a tweet. Pablo Echenique,
head of the party in the northern region of Aragon, wrote that "our
Greek brothers just told the financial dictators that democracy and
dignity are not to be tampered with."
France's populist parties also celebrated the "no" vote. The
far-right National Front, which combines anti-immigration and
anti-euro policies, said the Greek referendum is a victory for
democracy and the Greek people. "I think we're seeing the beginning
of the end of the eurozone," Florian Philippot, vice president of
the National Front, said on French television channel France 2.
France's far-left political groups, which have closer ties to
ruling party Syriza, also cheered the result. Jean-Luc Mé lenchon,
the leftist politician who took more than 11% of the vote in 2012
elections, said the time had come to write off Greece's debt and
abandon austerity.
"The Greeks have held their heads high so from now on we can
start talking seriously in Europe. The absurd policies of Mme.
Merkel and [German Finance Minister Wolfgang] Schä uble have just
been beaten," Mr. Mé lenchon said on BFMTV.
Andrea Thomas in Berlin, Giovanni Legorano in Milan, Giada
Zampano in Rome and David Romá n in Madrid contributed to this
article.
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