Eurozone
finance ministers have ruled out any further talks on a fresh bailout for
Greece until the country holds its referendum on Sunday.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis accused
the creditors of blackmail. But he pledged a deal would be reached soon after
the vote and that current limits on bank withdrawals would ease.
Earlier on Wednesday Mr Tsipras put new proposals
to eurozone partners, accepting most of what was on the table before talks with
creditors collapsed last week, but with conditions.
His latest offer is tied explicitly to
agreement on a request for a third bailout from the eurozone's bailout fund
lasting two years and amounting to €29.1bn.
However, later Mr Tsipras made a defiant
speech on national TV confirming Sunday's vote would go ahead and urging a
"No" vote to strengthen Greece's hand in negotiations.
Mr Varoufakis said later in a TV interview:
"This is a very dark moment for Europe. They have closed our banks for the
sole purpose of blackmailing what? Getting a 'Yes' vote on a non-sustainable
solution that would be bad for Europe."
But he added: "On Monday, the
creditors, the lenders will have taken the message by the Greek people... So as
soon as they get this message, be sure that in a very short time there will be
a response."
Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup
President Jeroen Dijsselbloem replied to Mr Tsipras's proposals by saying a new
bailout could only be discussed "after and on the basis of the outcome
of" the vote.
The BBC's James Reynolds in Athens says EU
negotiators believe the proposals themselves have now expired and that there is
little point in taking the country's phone calls until the referendum is held.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among those insisting talks must follow the
outcome of the vote.
However, French President Francois Hollande
said he wanted a deal to be found before the referendum. "We have to be
clear. An accord is for right now, it will not be put off," he said. Greek
banks did not open this week after the European Central Bank froze their
liquidity lifeline, and on Wednesday decided to keep the emergency funding at
the same level.
But
the ECB did not decide to demand more collateral from Greek banks as some had
speculated it might. Withdrawals from cash machines are capped at just €60 a
day but some bank branches reopened on Wednesday to allow pensioners - many of
whom do not use bank cards - a one-off weekly withdrawal of up to €120.
Many pensioners had waited outside banks
from before dawn, only to be told to return on Thursday or Friday. Some
pensioners were told their pensions had not yet been deposited. Athens missed
the deadline for a €1.5bn (£1.1bn; $1.7bn) repayment to the International
Monetary Fund on Tuesday. With the previous eurozone bailout expired, Greece no
longer has access to billions of euros in funds. IMF chief Christine Lagarde
said the organisation would still "try to help" and that she hoped
the referendum would bring "more clarity".
Πηγή:
bbc.com
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