The vote is in and the Nays have won. Greece went to the polls Sunday and overwhelmingly rejected any terms of a rescue package from its creditors.
Greek banks are now in deep trouble, with no money in the till and the threat of a forced exit from the euro, all this leading to internal turmoil and the possibility of a total failure of the Greek economy.
Emergency Tuesday Summit
A “Yes” sentiment seemed to prevail up until the very end when opinion polls began predicting a “No” victory. And that is exactly what happened. While the more well to do and elderly populace voted “Yes” the poor and younger favored a “No” response to outside financial assistance.
The ECB has called for an emergency committee meeting on Tuesday to decide how to respond to the latest events.
Athens is hoping that the ECB will accept the voice of the Greek people and not expel the country from Eurozone membership as it has threatened to do. In addition, the Greek government would like its fellow members to provide assistance in funding Greek banks at least in the short term so that they can reopen immediately and prevent the first country in the Eurozone from an almost definite collapse.
This is the first serious challenge to the Eurozone since its inception and its reaction to the event could set a precedent to similar situations that may occur in other countries in the future.