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PM Tsipras: 'No' vote will pressure Europe to be more realistic with Greece
The referendum called on July 5 (Sunday) is five years overdue, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Thursday in an interview with private broadcaster ANT1, adding that the Greek people know why they are voting.
“The Greek people want to be able to move ahead with optimism. We stay in Europe but we want to prosper. We want to be equals with Europe,” the premier said, noting that the recipe which was implemented in the country for the past five years has failed.
Asked on the referendum, Tsipras reiterated his position that “a ‘No’ vote doesn’t mean rift [with Europe], but strong pressure so that Europe will face Greece with bigger realism.”
Commenting on the five-month negotiation, the prime minister said that he never considered doing what his predecessors had done: to return to Greece with a five-month programme which would create the need for new loans and yet to claim negotiations had been successful.
