Greece debt: Greeks vote in bailout referendum

Polling stations opened at 07:00 local time (04:00 GMT), with the first results expected on Sunday evening.

The end of a frenetic week of campaigning saw huge rallies being held by both sides of the referendum on Friday.

The government has urged voters to vote "No", but opponents warn this could see Greece ejected from the eurozone.

'Spreading fear'
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told local media on Saturday that the EU had "no legal grounds" to throw Greece out of the euro.

On the eve of the referendum, he accused Athens' creditors of trying to sow fear around the vote. Speaking to Spain's El Mundo newspaper, he said: "Why did they force us to close the banks? To instil fear in people. And spreading fear is called terrorism."

Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, one of Greece's harshest critics, suggested that if Greece were to leave the eurozone, it might only be temporary.

"Greece is a member of the eurozone. There's no doubt about that," he told German newspaper Bild.

"Whether with the euro or temporarily without it: only the Greeks can answer this question. And it is clear that we will not leave the people in the lurch."

Tight race
Greece's current bailout programme with the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) ran out on Tuesday.

Banks have been shut all week, with limits imposed on cash withdrawals.

Ballot paper question

"Must the agreement plan submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the Eurogroup of 25 June, 2015, and comprised of two parts which make up their joint proposal, be accepted? The first document is titled "reforms for the completion of the current programme and beyond" and the second "Preliminary debt sustainability analysis".

Voters must check one of two boxes - "not approved/no" or, below it, "approved/yes".

Mr Varoufakis has said that the banks in Greece would reopen on Tuesday whatever the outcome and that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would still reach an agreement with creditors if the result was "No" in the referendum.

Tens of thousands of people attended rival rallies urging "Yes" and "No" votes on Friday night.

Mr Tsipras told supporters Greece needed to "say a proud 'No' to [European] ultimatums" to sign up to fresh austerity.

He also used similar language to Mr Varoufakis, urging Greeks to say no to "the campaign of terror".

He denied a "No" vote would mean leaving the European Union - though opponents said they believed Mr Tsipras could not deliver on such a promise.

Electoral workers have been racing to get polling stations ready in time, with army helicopters being used instead of boats to rush ballot papers to the islands.

Nearly 10 million people are eligible to vote in the referendum. Opinion polls on Friday suggested that the country was evenly split.
Several European officials have complained in strong terms about Greece's abrupt decision to hold a referendum on the terms of a bailout offer they say is no longer on the table.

Greece's left-wing Syriza government was elected in January on an anti-austerity platform.

The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm - one of the "troika" of creditors along with the International Monetary Fund and the ECB - wants Athens to raise taxes and slash welfare spending to meet its debt obligations.

Source: bbc.com