• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers

2

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?

3

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

1

New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers

2

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?

3

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
FinanceGreece

Germans call for Greece to leave the euro zone after ‘no’ referendum vote

By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 5, 2015, 5:15 PM ET
Video Poster
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

BRUSSELS/BERLIN – France and Germany called for an emergency summit of euro zone leaders to discuss Greeks’ stunning referendum vote on Sunday to reject bailout terms, as calls mounted inBerlin to cut Greece loose from Europe’s common currency.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s deputy said Athens had wrecked any hope of compromise with its euro zone partners by overwhelmingly rejecting further austerity.

Merkel and French President Francois Hollande conferred by telephone and called for a euro zone summit on Tuesday. They will meet in Paris on Monday afternoon to seek a joint response.

But Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, leader of Merkel’s centre-left Social Democratic junior coalition partner, said it was hard to conceive of fresh negotiations on lending more billions to Athens after Greeks voted against more austerity.

Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had “torn down the last bridges on which Greece and Europe could have moved towards a compromise,” Gabriel told the Tagesspiegel daily.

His comments, saying Greeks had rejected the rules of the euro zone, reflected a mounting public demand in the most powerful EU country, which is also Greece’s biggest creditor, to eject Athens from the 19-nation currency area.

It was not clear whether Merkel, who has repeatedly said she wants to keep Greece in the euro zone, would shift to a similarly hard line.

But senior lawmakers in her conservative bloc also spoke firmly: “Now one has to ask the question whetherGreece would not be better off outside the euro zone,” Hans Michelbach, a member of the BavarianChristian Social Union told Reuters. “Unfortunately, Greece has chosen a path of isolation.”

The vote sharpened differences between Greece’s few remaining sympathizers in the euro zone – mostly inItaly and France – and hardline countries led by Germany which are fed up with pouring loans into Greece.

Italy’s foreign minister, Paolo Gentiloni, said the euro zone should resume efforts to reach a deal withAthens.

“Now it is right to start trying for an agreement again,” he tweeted. “But there is no escape from the Greek labyrinth with a weak Europe that isn’t growing.”

Silence from Brussels

There was a thunderous silence from top EU policymakers in Brussels and Frankfurt who conferred by telephone but avoided public comment on an outcome that was a stunning setback for euro zone governments but delighted anti-EU populists.

Euro zone officials said there was no immediate plan for an emergency meeting of the 19 finance ministers of the currency area and no clarity about the way forward with Greece.

“No way,” a euro zone official said when asked whether the Eurogroup ministers would meet on Monday. “(They) would not know what to discuss.”

Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, in a letter to his Dutch Labor Party members before Sunday’s vote, warned: “Although the government in Athens would like people to think otherwise, it (the referendum) is about the question of whether Greece stays in the Eurozone or not.”

The 60-40 margin of defeat for the terms of a cash-for-reform deal which the leftist Greek government rejected a week ago shocked EU officials who had been heartened by opinion polls showing the ‘Yes’ camp gaining ground as bank closures and the rationing of cash withdrawals began to bite.

It was a personal blow for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, one of the architects of the euro, who worked for months to try to broker a debt deal with Tsipras despite misgivings in Berlin.

Deputy finance ministers and senior officials of the Eurogroup Working Group will hold a conference call on Monday to take stock of the situation, another euro zone official said.

Any future negotiation would run up against the hardening of opinion in Germany.

The head of Germany’s savings bank association said Greece had broken with the rules of the euro zone and should leave the currency bloc. The head of the German exporters’ body said he could not see howGreece could stay in the euro zone now.

Hardline German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, denounced in ‘No’ campaign posters as a blood-sucker, has leaned towards making an example of Greece and pushing it towards the exit, sources familiar with his thinking say.

In a weekend newspaper interview, Schaeuble said Athens might consider leaving the currency area temporarily.

Eurosceptics around the EU were jubilant at the rejection of what French far right National Front leader Marine Le Pen called “the European Union oligarchy”.

“It is ‘No’ vote of freedom, of rebellion against European ‘diktats’ of those who want to impose the single currency at any price, through the most inhuman and counter-productive austerity,” she said in a statement.

In Britain, anti-EU UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage commended Greek voters for “calling the EU’s bluff”.

“EU project is now dying. It’s fantastic to see the courage of the Greek people in the face of political and economic bullying from Brussels,” he said.

Eurosceptics in the Netherlands and Italy joined the chorus of glee at the EU’s discomfiture. In Spain, leader of the new far-left Podemos party, Pablo Iglesias, who is close to Tsipras, tweeted: “Today in Greece, democracy has won.”

About the Author
By Reuters
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Finance

Kalshi tiptoes back into canceled flight markets with new  JFK airport wager, bets don’t apply to specific flights
BankingKalshi
Kalshi tiptoes back into canceled flight markets with new JFK airport wager, bets don’t apply to specific flights
By Jeff John RobertsJuly 27, 2026
2 hours ago
LeBron James took a pay cut to maybe live in New York and commute to Philly by chopper, risking double taxation as NYC also tries to ban helicopters
Real EstateSports
LeBron James took a pay cut to maybe live in New York and commute to Philly by chopper, risking double taxation as NYC also tries to ban helicopters
By Catherina GioinoJuly 27, 2026
8 hours ago
Photo of truck driver
North AmericaCanada
U.S.—Canada bridge opens to traffic in Detroit amid Trump tariffs strain
By The Associated Press, Mike Householder and Ed WhiteJuly 27, 2026
9 hours ago
Bank of America, Chipotle, Dell, and Uber are chipping in on Trump Accounts for their workers’ kids—but most companies are sitting it out
Personal FinanceDonald Trump
Bank of America, Chipotle, Dell, and Uber are chipping in on Trump Accounts for their workers’ kids—but most companies are sitting it out
By Courtney Vinopal and HR BrewJuly 27, 2026
9 hours ago
Elon Musk’s vision of a post-money future got mocked. Vinod Khosla warns it could become a dystopia instead
AIthe future of work
Elon Musk’s vision of a post-money future got mocked. Vinod Khosla warns it could become a dystopia instead
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 27, 2026
9 hours ago
People at dinner table paying the bill
Personal FinanceVisa
About half of Gen Z owe their friends more than $1,000, while nearly another half goes into debt to cover group expenses they expect to be repaid
By Catherina GioinoJuly 27, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers
Retail
New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers
By Sarah GlodekJuly 27, 2026
22 hours ago
Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?
C-Suite
Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 27, 2026
13 hours ago
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
Real Estate
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 25, 2026
3 days ago
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
Success
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 25, 2026
3 days ago
I've been teaching college students for decades. Most of them can no longer finish a book
Commentary
I've been teaching college students for decades. Most of them can no longer finish a book
By Austin SaratJuly 26, 2026
2 days ago
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
Economy
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.