In the end, the separation was clear. The referendum in Greece on the agreement proposals received from international creditors, he closed with one landslide victory of the NO, which reached 61,3% of the preferences (equal to 3.558.450 votes), against the 38,7% of Yes (2.245.537 votes). The turnout reached 65%, well beyond the 40% quorum.
"We have shown that democracy cannot be blackmailed", said the Greek premier Alexis Tsipras, calling for "a Europe of solidarity". The NO's victory, he added, "is not a break with the European Union" nor is it a request for an exit from the euro. “Greece wants to sit down again at the negotiating table – he added – and we want to continue them with a real program of reforms but with social justice. Now the debt will also have to enter the negotiation”.
THE RESIGNATION OF VAROUFAKIS
Just to facilitate the negotiations, the surprise resignation the resignation of the Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis. “I'm leaving to help Tsipras in the negotiations – wrote the economist on his blog -. Soon after the referendum results were announced I was informed of a certain preference by some Eurogroup members and assorted 'partners' for my… 'absence' from their top leadership, an idea the prime minister deemed potentially useful to enable him to reach an understanding. For this reason, I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today. I consider it my duty to help Alexis Tsipras to exploit as he sees fit the capital that the Greek people have guaranteed us with the referendum yesterday and I will proudly bear the disgust of the creditors.”
THE LEADERS ARE COMING
At this point the focus shifts to Brussels, where the Eurogroup will meet this week. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande, on the other hand, will meet today in Paris precisely to discuss the Greek case. Meanwhile, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk has convened a meeting of Eurozone leaders for Tuesday, requested by several countries, including Italy, in the frantic round of telephone calls following the victory of the No vote in the Greek referendum.
This morning the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will hold a conference call with the president of the Eurosummit, the president of the Eurogroup and the president of the ECB, while on Tuesday he will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
THE CLOSURE OF GERMANY THE OPENING OF FRANCE
But not very encouraging signals have already arrived from Berlin: "New negotiations with Greece are hardly imaginable," said German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, according to whom Tsipras has destroyed the last bridge towards a compromise between Europe and Greece. Even tougher is Merkel, who in the evening accused Tsipras of "sending Greece against a wall". The reaction in Paris was of the opposite sign: the French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron has spoken out for the immediate reopening of negotiations with Athens.
THE POSITION OF ITALY
As for Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who summoned Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan for this morning at 9.30 at Palazzo Chigi, intends to put pressure on us to leave the Franco-German format, to arrive at a collective decision about the future of Greece.
THE ROLE OF THE ECB
The first, crucial match will be played this morning at the ECB. It will be up to Mario Draghi to decide whether and how to extend aid to Greek banks. For the Central Bank, after the no in Athens, it will be difficult to resist the arguments of Jens Weidmann, governor of the Bundesbank, according to which the collateral of Greek banks to guarantee loans has already lost all value for some time.
Mario Draghi, however, could avoid asking for the repayment of Ela loans for now, an act that would have the effect of accelerating Grexit. As already happened in 2012, the banker will ask the heads of the various European institutions whether they intend to take charge of Athens' guarantees or not.
The next key date will now be July 20, when 3,5 billion in EU loans to Athens will expire. If there is no agreement by that date, Greece will default, but it will not be expelled from the euro for this. Athens will enter a sort of limbo, characterized by double monetary circulation, with the introduction of a currency for internal use.
