On Sunday, Greece held a referendum on the terms of a bailout package put forward by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Internatonal Monetary Fund (IMF). Read the key messages of the article along with the explanations of some important and difficult terms.
Greece debt crisis: Tsipras says voters made “brave choice”
The final result in Sunday’s referendum was 61.3% “No”, against 38.7% who voted “Yes”. Turnout (=number of voters who went to the polls) was 62.5%.
Thousands of Greeks celebrated in the streets after the vote, but European officials warned that it could see Greece ejected from (=forced to leave) the eurozone.
On Monday morning, Greece’s finance minister said he was stepping down (=leaving the position/job).
Meanwhile, the euro fell across the board (=(here) affecting every market) in Asian markets.
Greece’s governing Syriza party had campaigned for a “No”, saying that the bailout terms were humiliating (=degrading, (here) conditions that make you feel stupid).
Mr Tsipras said late on Sunday that the Greeks had proved that “democracy won’t be blackmailed” (=forced to pay by threatening)
“But I am aware that the mandate you gave me is not a mandate for rupture.” (= break / explosion)
There are only two options. The Bank of Greece could make unsecured loans to Greek banks without the ECB’s permission – which would provoke a furious reaction from Eurozone leaders and would be seen by most of them as tantamount to (=having the same (bad) effect as) leaving the euro.
The coming days will see a flurry of (=many) emergency meetings across Europe.
You may read the complete article here.
Image courtesy of taoty at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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