Brussels---European leaders Monday pleaded with Greek voters to back hotly disputed bailout proposals in a crunch referendum or face leaving the euro as bank closures left many in Greece scrambling to find cash.
On the eve of an expected debt default that could set Greece on the path to a euro exit, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sought to calm nerves by leaving the door open to talks, saying the July 5 plebiscite on creditors' latest cash-for-reform plans would leave the country "better armed" in the fight for a debt deal.
But the premier also made clear that Greece was unable to make the 1.5-billion-euro payment due to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, the same day its international bailout programme expires.
"(How) is it possible the creditors are waiting for the IMF payment while our banks are being suffocated?" he said in a late-evening interview on ERT television.
Earlier on Monday, an emotional EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker bitterly criticised Tsipras, saying he felt "betrayed" by the leftist Syriza government's behaviour and adding it was time to tell voters "the truth".
Other EU leaders including Germany's Angela Merkel France's Francois Hollande and Italy's Matteo Renzi put up a united front, stressing that the bailout referendum was effectively a vote on Greece's place in the euro.
"A 'No' would mean, regardless of the question posed, that Greece had said no to Europe," said Juncker, previously Tsipras's closest -- and sometimes only -- ally in five months of debt talks.
The rhetoric came after the Greek debt saga took a dramatic turn at the weekend, with the European Central Bank refusing to increase financial support for Greek banks after Tsipras announced the shock referendum and bailout negotiations with creditors collapsed.
In a bid to avert a panicked run on banks, the Greek government imposed capital controls and ordered banks and the stock exchange to close for a week from Monday.
The uncertainty over Greece's future sparked long queues at ATMs in the country, where anxious citizens could only withdraw 60 euros ($66) per day, while global stock markets saw red.
"I feel like I'm voting for sudden death or slow death," said 38-year-old office manager Maria in Athens, who wants Greece to stay in the EU. "It feels like it's game over."
AFP
