“Going back to a national currency, my God, that will be a huge setback,” says a woman, walking away from the Alpha Bank cash machine off Syntagma Square near the Greek parliament in Athens. Her bid to withdraw euros has been unsuccessful: cash has dried up at the ATM.
After the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s shock announcement to call a referendum this weekend, queues have started lining up outside banks in Athens, lending credence to fears of a renewed “run” on Greek banks. Near Syntagma Square, Greeks continued to line up outside ATMs in an effort to withdraw some savings to help with payments as uncertainty remained about whether banks would open today.
Dimitrios Dedes, a retired military serviceman, was queuing outside the Ethniki Bank, the National Bank of Greece, further down from Syntagma. The 55-year-old said he would only withdraw some cash for daily expenses. How will he vote in Saturday’s referendum? he was asked. “No,” he says.
“We must chase fear away and gain our sovereignty back. What kind of Europe is this? It is using the euro as a tool of submission. A country’s strength is reflected by its independent flag flying high and control over its national currency – it’s time we regain our currency before we lose both.”