“The Greek government will continue decisively to give the fight in favor of these principals. We will continue to give the fight on behalf of the European people and of course on behalf of the Greek people,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said during a meeting in Brussels.
Greece is out of time. On Saturday, eurozone finance ministers held an emergency meeting without Greece where they decided not to extend the flailing nation’s bailout package past Tuesday.
“I think we must conclude that, however regretful, that the program will expire on Tuesday night,” Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said during Friday’s emergency meeting in Brussels.
The decision comes after Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced a surprise referendum that’d put the onus of accepting the EU’s bailout terms on the people, rather than the government.
The referendum was approved by the Greek parliament hours later.
That referendum is due to be held on July 5. But with no bailout extension, Greece may not make it past June 30 when a 1.6 billion euro payment is due to the International Monetary Fund. (Video via European Council)
And a Greek default, many speculate, may mean the end of the euro in the southern European nation. (Video via European Central Bank)
Or, as most have put it, the Grexit.
Whatever the case, it doesn’t appear the people of Greece have a whole lot of faith in their government.
Multiple outlets reported on Saturday that Greeks were lining up at ATMs to withdraw their money.
According to The Economic Times, more than a third of Greek ATMs ran out of money after the withdrawal rush.
And it doesn’t seem like eurozone financiers have much faith either. Saturday’s emergency meetings was all about damage control as financiers tried to figure out the best way contain the potential economic wreck. (Video via European Council)
This video includes images from Getty Images.
