Sunday night was a night of celebration for the majority of Greeks who rushed in the streets waving Greek flags and singing. It was a night of much-needed relief after weeks of painful negotiations, uncertainty and gloom.
In the past few days alone, Greeks suffered austere capital controls while pensioners had to stand in lines for hours just to get a measly 120 euros from their hard-earned pensions. Meanwhile the messages from Europe were “vote ‘yes’ in the referendum otherwise you’ll be out of the Eurozone.”
The majority of voters defied all that and voted ‘no’ to the austerity deal, in the hopes that they would send a message to European leaders that Greece cannot stand imposed recession any longer. In that sense, Greek people took revenge against lenders who wanted more and more harsh fiscal measures that would bring Greek society to its knees. They don’t know what the consequences of the ‘no’ might be, but for now they don’t seem to care.
The ‘no’ vote was a vote of anger. Anger towards a Europe that has shown a hard, almost inhuman stance in negotiations, especially regarding pension laws. If indeed European leaders wanted to punish Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for his insolence by pushing for more austere measures, the ones who would be truly hurt would be the Greek people.
July 5 was also a much bigger celebration for Tsipras and the SYRIZA party. The 61 percent victory of ‘no’ gave new wings to Tsipras and his cabinet, while at the same time crushed the opposition, as Antonis Samaras who resigned from the New Democracy leadership. The SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government has no opponent now and can go to elections any time with the certainty of victory.
Now the Greek government is ready to go to Brussels and negotiate with a strong people’s mandate in its arsenal. Or at least this is what Greek cabinet members believe. Tsipras will even go to Brussels without Greece’s “undesirable” to Europe finance minister Yanis Varoufakis who resigned.
European leaders and finance ministers will not welcome them with open arms, though. Alexis Tsipras said some very strong words during his mini referendum campaign. He spoke again of “blackmailers” and “extortionists” who want to impose “a slow death” on Greece and make it a “debt colony.”
From their side, European creditors are reluctant to sit down on the negotiating table again. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will meet on Monday to discuss the Greek issue. The European Central Bank Board of Directors will also convene to decide whether they would open again Greece’s lifeline through Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA). Varoufakis resigned claiming that his peers do not want him in the next Eurogroup and that his resignation will facilitate Tsipras in negotiations.
At the same time, Germany’s Deputy Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said Tsipras has “torn down the last bridges on which Greece and Europe could have moved towards a compromise.”
Some top European officials already view Greece as a bankrupt country that wants out of the Eurozone and will soon face a real humanitarian crisis. “Ordinary citizens, pensioners, sick people, children in kindergarten shouldn’t pay a price,” said European Parliament President Martin Schulz.
So, after the joy and celebrations, Greece now faces a few crucial days of hard talks and even harder decisions. Now Tsipras has to convince lenders that the ‘no’ vote was not a ‘no’ to Europe. He will also have to convince some of his ministers and lawmakers of that. Then work copiously and quickly to reach a deal that will benefit Greece.
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