Summary More than 61% of Greek voters rejected fresh austerity demands by the country's EU-IMF creditors.
ATHENS (AFP) - More than 61 percent of Greek voters on Sunday rejected fresh austerity demands by the country s EU-IMF creditors in a historic referendum, official results from over 95 percent of polling stations showed.
Thousands of Athenians gathered in central Syntagma Square to celebrate the result, despite warnings that failure to reach a deal with the creditors could trigger a Greek exit from the eurozone.
"I m so happy," said 37-year old Dima Rousso, adding that she hadn t expected there to be such a clear margin between the No votes and the Yes votes.
"This is Europe s chance to become what it should have been in the beginning," she said.
"Together we have written a bright page in modern European history," an elated Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told the nation in a televised address.
"This is not a mandate of rupture with Europe, but a mandate that bolsters our negotiating strength to achieve a viable deal," he added.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker had said a Greek No would be "no to Europe".
The head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, called the Greek No result "very regrettable for the future of Greece".
