10 million Greeks go to the polls to vote on bailout packageTsipras: ‘Today democracy conquers fear’Head of EU parliament warns that ‘No’ vote will lead to GrexitAnalysts say young people could swing the voteSummary of latest eventsGreek referendum: six questions about what happens next 2.46pm BST The Bild tabloid is reporting on how Europe’s bankers are hunkering down for a long night.Deutsche Bank, for one, is planning a telephone conference for its top bankers at 10pm local time, in order to advise on the results of the referendum and what a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ will mean for international creditors. 2.44pm BST Gérard Araud, France’s ambassador to the United States, has tweeted that Paris will do everything it can to avoid Grexit:Whatever the result of the Greek referendum, France will do its utmost so that Greece remains member of the EU and of the Eurozone. 2.34pm BST Solid turnout seen so far in Greek bailout vote: Local media reports that turnout has crossed crucial 40% mark for referendum to be valid. 2.34pm BST Germany’s defence minister Ursula von der Leyen has delivered a swift rebuke to Yanis Varoufakis’s claim yesterday that the Greeks had been terrorised by their creditors.She told the Passauer Neuen Presse: “The remark by Varoufakis is a mockery to everyone that suffers from (the effects) of terrorism.” 2.32pm BST The mayor of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city, believes that Alexis Tsipras and the leaders of the other main political parties should “head to Brussels together” on Monday - regardless of whether Greece votes Yes or No.Yiannis Boutaris, who was shortlisted for World Mayor 2014, said in a statement:“Whatever the result of the referendum, the prime minister and the politicalleaders must understand that they must get together and go to Brussels to give asign of credibility,” 2.32pm BST Greece’s finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, continues to insist that Athens can reach an agreement with its lenders quickly, if the country votes no today.Just now: @yanisvaroufakis Q: if it's a no vote, how quickly can you get a deal? A: "24 hours" (to @katieslaman @CNBC) 2.25pm BST As well as ticking that ballot paper, Greeks have been able to express their preferences at the local cake shop:Yes or no, come make an easier choice at Zappeion. Whatever you choose it's the same on the inside #greferendum pic.twitter.com/sa9dK7u61p 2.22pm BST The No campaign have been using images of Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, and his Dutch counterpart Jeroen Dijsselbloem, to encourage people to tick the OXI box.At my polling station in Petroupoli, working-class Athens suburb. #GReferendum #Greece pic.twitter.com/puyCscIkWjAthens, electoral spot: NO/YES representatives on the right, KKE with its own ballot on the left. #Grefenderum pic.twitter.com/GrBLgPTPKm 2.15pm BST Germany’s Spiegel newspaper has the inside line of how Angela Merkel reacted last weekend to the news that Alexis Tsipras had called today’s referendum, It says an exasperated Merkel told the inner circle of her CDU party that his politics were “hard and ideological” and that he was “driving his country to the wall, with open eyes”. “If the Euro collapses, so too will Merkel’s chancellorship”."Woman of the ruins". If the #Euro collapse so too does #Merkel's chancellorship says @Spiegel in title story pic.twitter.com/ksDd4wtPU8 2.07pm BST Remember, you can share your experiences of today’s referendum through Guardian Witness, as this reader already has:Into the polling place, scanning the ballot, trying to find the better route for my country's future.Sent via GuardianWitness By ΓΑΒΡΙΗΛ ΟΥΡΑΗΛΙΔΗΣ 5 July 2015, 12:17 2.01pm BST Greek are continuing to vote in steady numbers; the Mega TV channel says turnout has already hit 35%, so safely on track to clear the 40% threshold to be legally valid. 1.39pm BST 1.26pm BST 1.24pm BST Greek voting stations close at 5pm BST with the first exit poll expected shortly after. If the knife-edge vote indicated by the most recent opinion polls hold true, it will be the early hours of Monday before the actual result is known.Four things the Greek referendum will not change – economists at Société Générale:First, in Greece - Yes or No - it will take time to gain clarity on the situation. Second, much political damage has already been done in the euro area; and more could be done. Third (and perhaps first in order of importance), the euro area needs urgently to accelerate structural reform; both the national and European level. While our baseline scenario is that contagion from Greece will remain modest thanks to better tools, there is a negative risk scenario that could influence policy decisions further afield and notably slow Fed rate hikes. 1.20pm BST The BBC is working hard to provide us with coverage on Greece:This is commitment. @BBCTimFranks hosting #Newshour on @bbcworldservice under not one but two umbrellas. #greece pic.twitter.com/v44KYHOHFk 1.16pm BST Much ado here over other remarks the European parliament’s president Martin Schulz has also made today, says Helena Smith in Athens.Martin’s Schulz’s prediction that Greece will be forced to mint a new currency in the event of a ‘no’ vote has been causing waves. Several leading commentators have denounced it as shameful intervention in today’s democratic process.“Deplorable” wrote Nikos Hatzinikolaou whose (usual) tact has helped make him Greece’s most famous journalist. 12.53pm BST Daniel Howden reports from central Greece again.40 year old mother of two, Aristea, sitting on the step of the Devernohoria village school waiting for the lunch break to end at the poll station, admits that she hasn’t decided how she will vote.“This referendum should never have happened. As Greeks we’ve reached the point where we need to get serious.” 12.51pm BST Some people suggest the initial turnout for the referendum is low, despite all the media hype. At least half a million Greeks are unable to cast their vote because they live abroad, unless they have travelled back to their home country (the place where they are registered to vote).I’m 18, a first-time voter. Our voting station was quiet, but friends are texting me that in some other neighborhoods organised groups of Syriza youths are booing politicians and harassing voters. This is sad, in my circle of friends we are split in half, like the rest of Greece, but decided when it all started that we won’t let it affect our friendships.Voting is such a scary thing! You have to face the fact that your decision can have a negative impact on your country.” 12.46pm BST Here are six questions (and answers) about what happens next, after the dust from the referendum settles. What happens in the event of a yes, no or ‘light no’ vote? asks Helena Smith, our correspondent in Athens. 12.44pm BST Greek media, you lose! Democracy fear for a fairer E.U. #OXI #oxi2015 #dimopsifisma #Greferendum pic.twitter.com/kXP6CMdHZZ 12.41pm BST Former LibDem parliamentary candidate George Cunningham is in Greece.I am in Greece. Referendum is taking place. OXI or NO posters dominate where I am. The EU's message is not heard much pic.twitter.com/6yqxvuv1r2 12.34pm BST Interesting series of tweets from Greek polling stations.A greek polling place. Poll workers say the turnout rate is low. Approximately 1/3 of registered voters have voted pic.twitter.com/nYuuSnmOmpA couple who just voted tell me "We don't really care. This will change nothing. It is always the same."All the votes get placed in a plastic bin watched over by this lady. She says people are voting, but are confused. pic.twitter.com/7KI35rCyOe 12.31pm BST Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann has warned that the German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble faces a big hole, of several billion euros, in his budget planning if Greece leaves the euro. He issued the stark warning to the German government in a cabinet session last Wednesday, German newspaper Handelsblatt reports, citing a government source.The Bundesbank has made provisions of €14.4bn to deal with the fallout of the eurozone crisis, but this would probably not be be enough in a case of a Grexit, the paper said. 12.22pm BST Daniel Howden has spoken to a ‘Yes’ voter. Yannis Raptodimos, 29, who lives in Dervenohoria, central Greece, and works in a local munitions factory, warns of catastrophe if the drachma is reintroduced.Those who have money in the bank will vote Yes. Those with loans have been told that if they vote No they won’t have to repay them.This is not right. If you don’t repay loans the banks will fold. With the Drachma we’ll have catastrophe. 12.08pm BST Here are some more voices from Greece. Important day in #Greece. 17 yr old HS grads get to vote too, yet, consequences unclear either way. Driving my 17 yr old cousin home to voteJust voted in Athens, Elliniko. Remarkably organised considering it was all done in a week! Congrats! #Greferendum pic.twitter.com/gVfxAbHf0P 12.03pm BST European parliament president Martin Schulz has held out the prospect of more emergency loans from the EU to Greece to pay wages to civil servants and keep public services like transport, energy and the healthcare system running. In an interview with Germany’s conservative newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag, he defended the EU’s hardline approach against Athens, and expressed his hope that Greece would vote ‘Yes’ in Sunday’s referendum.We won’t abandon the Greek people to their fate. 11.51am BST John Hooper, the Guardian’s southern Europe editor, writes:First came Donald Tusk, the representative of the EU’s member governments, who said that a ‘No’ vote was “not ... about beingin the euro zone or not”. Then we had Wolfgang Schäuble telling the Greeks that the outcome of the referendum would merely decide whether their country kept the euro or would be “temporarily without it”. And now, today, we get a member of the ECB’s executive board, Benoît Cœuré appearing to say that, no matter which way the vote goes, “We will find the necessary instruments”.Odd. No? 11.49am BST Emmanuel Macron, the French economy minister, warned that Greece and its international creditors must work on a compromise to get the country out of its debt crisis, and not count only on support from the European Central Bank. Speaking at an economics conference in Aix-en-Provence in southern France, where ECB policymaker Benoît Cœuré vowed that the ECB would take more action if necessary, Macron said:Whatever the vote, we must start tomorrow to respond with political discussions to create a framework.It’s not about taking refuge behind the ECB and others that have already done more than enough. 11.43am BST Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s flamboyant finance minister, has confirmed that he will resign if the referendum results in a ‘Yes’ vote. But he also told Germany’s Bild newspaper that there won’t be a majority for a ‘Yes’ . Bild’s lead story on Sunday: “Greece is divided – it’s painful”. Greek journalist Liana Spyropoulou writes in the newspaper that the referendum has split families and friends. 11.25am BST Commentators have warned that the vote is a “complicated mess”. Mike Bird writes on Business Insider:[The vote] asks Greeks to give a single vote on two official bailout deal documents that few will have read, and even fewer will have understood. It’s not even clear that the deal being voted on is still on offer.Polls have been split pretty much straight down the middle. Nobody is sure who will win today. 11.22am BST 11.07am BST #greekreferendum could be written in history as the 1st nat'l referendum where EU countries where somehow involved https://t.co/51eXFqJFK5 10.57am BST Postcards from the edge in Athens where toll roads have been declared free. Toll booth operators in cheerful blue polo shirts sit staring into the distance with nothing to do, waving the traffic through, reports Daniel Howden. 10.52am BST #France's economy minister #Macron: if NO prevails at #Greece referendum, let's not re-enact the Versailles Treaty @EmmanuelMacronIt was after this exchange on Thurs 25 June (lunchtime) that Tsipras called Pavlopoulos on the referendum option http://t.co/1YU0QyegIm 10.51am BST Currency traders at several big investment banks are at their desks on Sunday, preparing for strong client demand following the Greek referendum, the Financial Times reports – £. After the weekend closure, the currency markets will start trading again in Asia on Monday morning, beginning in Australia and New Zealand at 10pm London time.HSBC said it was bringing in extra staff and JPMorgan was expected to do the same. Deutsche Bank also said staff would be covering the referendum. 10.43am BST More in from out Athens correspondent Helena Smith who has been speaking to analysts. Analysts are saying this morning the ballot could ultimately be swung by the youth vote. “A lot will depend on the participation of young voters today,” political commentator Aristides Hatzis told the Guardian. “Polls show that a huge majority, about 80 percent, of Greek youth would vote ‘no.’ How well the ‘no’ vote does will be based on this turn-out.”The youth of crisis-torn Greece have been hit like no other sector of society. Joblessness levels among the under 25 age group currently exceed 55 %. 10.42am BST The head of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, told German radio that Greece will have to introduce another currency if the ‘No’ vote prevails. He told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk in an interview broadcast on Sunday and taped on Thursday:Is Greece still in the euro after this referendum? That is certainly the case, but if they say ‘No’ they will have to introduce another currency after the referendum because the euro is not available as a means of payment.The moment someone introduces a new currency, they exit the eurozone. Those are the elements that give me some hope that people will not vote ‘No’ today. 10.32am BST The European Central Bank stands ready to take additional measures if necessary, ECB executive board member Benoît Cœuré said this morning. Speaking at an economics conference in Aix-en-Provence in southern France, he said, according to Reuters:In the current circumstances of great uncertainty in Europe and the world, the ECB has been clear that if we need to do more we will do more. We will find the necessary instruments. Our will to act in this matter should not be doubted. 10.23am BST “Today democracy conquers fear,” said Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras after casting his vote in Greece’s historic referendum. Here are his comments in full, courtesy of Reuters. He said in Athens’ working class district of Kypseli, where he is registered to vote:Many people can ignore the will of a government. But no one can ignore the will of a people.Today is a day of celebration, because democracy is a celebration, it is joy. And when democracy overcomes fear and extortion, then it becomes a redemption and a way out. The Greek people today send a very strong message. A message of dignity and determination. The message that they hold a choice in their hands. No one can ignore the will of a people to live. To live with determination and take their life in their own hands.#Tsipras is mobbed by the media after voting #Greferendum pic.twitter.com/xJQdASnFt3 10.07am BST Polling stations in Greece are open until 7pm local time (5pm BST), but there are suggestions that they could stay open later if they run short of envelopes.Oxi or Nai? No or Yes on #Greek ballot paper today #Greferendum pic.twitter.com/rGkXNxBom3If Greek polling stations run short of envelopes, polling might be delayed and even extended beyond planned 19:00 closure (16:00gmt) 9.58am BST Polling stations in Greece opened nearly five hours ago.George Osborne, the UK chancellor, has just been asked how he would vote in the Greek referendum on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.Whatever Greece decides, Britain is prepared. We have the plans in place whatever the outcome is.I don’t think anyone should be in doubt that the outcome has an impact on the European economy, which is all the more reason to keep our house in order. 9.50am BST Warning that potentially explosive moments lay ahead, the head of Greece’s orthodox communist party, KKE, Dimitris Koutsombas also called for unity, reports Helena Smith. “The workers’ class, with unity and alliance, must face whatever development, whether these lead to a new agreement, a guillotine essentially with tough measures or whether they lead to developments outside the euro, a double currency with our people being bankrupt.” The KKE has also urged supporters to reject creditors proposed reforms saying acceptance would lead to further pauperisation of Greeks. 9.47am BST Our correspondent in Athens, Helena Smith reports:By 10.30am the country’s entire political leadership had cast ballots. Voting in the central Athens district of Kypseli, prime minister Alexis Tsipras called the referendum a “day of celebration” for the crisis-hit country. Addressing a crush of reporters, amid loud cries of NO from supporters, Tsipras lashed out at the war of propaganda that had been waged in the week since he called had called the vote. 9.41am BST Good morning.About 10 million Greeks are going to the polls on Sunday, to vote in a referendum that poses the biggest challenge to the euro since its adoption in 1999. We will bring you the latest news and developments throughout the day."I am optimistic" PM Tsipras says after voting #Greece pic.twitter.com/SEV6uF4exi Continue reading...
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