Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras interview

We will face threats with concern
Greek men and women will survive without program and go to the polls
Democracy is the dominant value in this land
Greece existed long before Europe and the Eurozone
We will not bury it [Greece] just to end a problem
Whatever the decision of the people it will be accepted and respected
The decision will apply
We will stand up, we will be alive
We will choose the future as a sovereign people.

What does a "no"mean

Ms. Merkel said there will be negotiation after the referendum
The stance of lenders is to bully
Our goal is to continue negotiating after the referendum
The reasonable proposals of the Greek Government will remain on the table
And [there will be] an economically viable solution
We did not seek for the country to leave the European framework
We want Greece to stay with an adjustment towards social justice
We sought an agreement that would distribute the burdens equitably
And whille settling the debt that would give sense to the public, markets, creditors that the debate over Grexit is done
We do not accept the vicious circle
We call on the people to reject the agreement
The greater the denial of this agreement, the more power we have in negotiation
We did what was humanly possible
The dominant climate in the media was that we were handing everything over
The same media have now changed tune
The same argument was reiterated by Juncker and Merkel today
I found that the other side's goal was not to bridge differences
It was to adopt their views
When we compromised on something they asked for even more
Maybe they perceived as weakness our disposition towards an agreement
The popular mandate was to negotiate without Memoranda
If I had succeeded we would have agreement
But it is indisputable that we fought
We arrived to give a proposal described as a basis for discussion and as very good news
Once we tabled this, they asked for even more
And once we went to give even more, they asked for more
I do not believe that they want to throw us out of the euro and will not do so
The cost of initiating a Eurozone dissolution is huge
The bankruptcy of a country that has an open account of over 100 bn. Euros to the ECB is huge
This is their estimation
Their plan was to finish the hope that there could be another policy
It's not just our government, but also the processes in other nations
They do not want Europe to get the message that there is more time
This can not be answeed by a single man and a government, [but] a people
The mandate of the people was served
I was givne an ultimatum of 48 hours
I rejected this and told them that the ultimatums sometimes return more resoundadly
They wanted a new Memorandum
They said sign it and say that it's your proposal
They said this at the last hour when giving us the ultimatum
They gave us the opportunity to come to the Greek people and say
Do you accept this
The basic condition for understanding is sincerity
The game must end
We do not play games with an entire people

Barbs for IMF and Merkel

We tabled a proposal for extension
The Eurogroup rejected this
They did not discuss any other text
The next day, after we had said about the referendum they tabled the same propossal with one change
The proposals tabled by the commission was the IMF's proposals not the EU acquis
Throughout the negotiations the three Institutions had different proposals, different positions
When we arrived towards the end of the negotiations we made an effort to flesh out our proposals in a 47 page document
At that time, the independent Institutions lost their independence when summoned to Berlin

What happened before the referendum

I told Merkel and Hollande that their proposal is not viable and was told "no to us, talk to the Institutions'
I told them I can not accept this, I will go to Athens and convene a cabinet council
Before the end of the cabinet council I called them and told them i was going to a referendum
It is not proper to say what the answer I received was, but it was negative
I thought that it went without saying that I would get the extension
The previous government was extended to go to elections
The choice not to grant an extension brought on the decision of the ECB and will go down in history
The referendum is at the core of Europe

On the result

I am not an weather PM
I am not enamoured of my my position
As long as the Greek people support it I will be present
I will not be all weather during my political carreer
Whatever the people vote will become state law
We will respect the verdict of the Greek people
Following the decision all developments as provided in the Constitution will be launched
I do not think I will succeed with a "no" of 55%
The greaterthe percentage the greater opportunity to change things

Why he is not putting the government proposal to the Greek referendum

It makes no sense to put our own proposal in the referendum
If the Greek people say 'no' other issues will get tabled
Our proposal is on the table
Greece is not out of the negotiations

Lenders will push for 'yes'

As we come to the ballot box everyone will rush to adopt the terms of acceptance
They do not want to make concessions
If everyone else was forced to make concessions for Greece others (eg Renzi [Italian PM]) would be held in account
I expect initiatives the very next day
Can there be moves in the meantime?
I have my phones open 24/7
Already today I spoke with Juncker on the phone before the press conference
I spoke to the European Parliament and the plenum took the decision to extend the program
I expect their leaders to respect the democratic right of a people
Do not kill democracy where it was born
The council said that future historians will not understand why we did not agree
The gist is the financial issue
We covered this with equivalent measures
We believe they are depressive measures but we tabled them for agreement
After tabling them why did we not agree?
Because we disagreed on collective labor agreements
Across Europe employees negotiate
In a Greece of rampant unemployment, not?
They do not want to throw Greece out
They just want to kill hope

If they do not accept a 'no' is there a Plan B?

The referendum is on the acceptance or not of recessionary measures
We will do everything in our power for the people to survive
To ensure liquidity recovery
There will be no shortage of basic goods
This people has gone through even more difficult times
Peoples do not go bankrupt
Countries do not go bankrupt
Banks go bust
Who compromised in the name of VAT?
I know if lenders are on the grill
But i'm not sweating either
There were interventions by Europeans for people to vote "yes" in the referendum
The banks will open soon and liquidity will be restored
This is a desire of [ECB] President Draghi
This will happen if there is a strong result in the referendum
A few hours after the referendum we will get an agreement

We will not pay the installment of the IMF

It is possible for suffocation of the financial system
To not give us an xtension and expect us to pay?
If this suffocation ends and a sustainable agreement found the installments will be paid
Greece has to not got an installment from the IMF since 2014
They want to be paid without paying

The IMF talks about measures, but also about the debt
Europeans use the IMF a la carte

Is the euro a fetish?

The euro is a common currency
To move forward and have stability should be based on solidarity, the rules of the eurozone and the respect of democracy
We have respected the rules
Our partners have not respected the popular mandate
They ask us to do worse than did the ND-PASOK government
We have option of staying in the euro
We do not feel that the Eurozone has tenants and rentors
We are the heart of Europe
Who can break away Greece from Europe?

Thessaloniki plan has began to be implemented

We are a government that did what we promised
We promised tough negotiations and we did it
We will also gradually implement the Thessaloniki program
We did a lot in five months
100 tranches for tax payments, to deal with the humanitarian crisis
We restored the injustices in the public sector
We restored the blackened [public broadcaster] ERT
We did not do more because we had the gun to our heads
Thessaloniki program has began to be implemented
There are points that have not been implemented such as the abolition of the ENFIA proprty tax and the 12,000 euro under which tax would not be levied
They were not implemented because we are in a status of being chocked
We did not succeed in convincing our partners for a sustainable agreement
Otherwise there would not be a referendum
If you go a "yes" I think there will be no economically viable agreement

Samaras designed the left parenthesis

In relation to what was being demanded of Samaras, we will save 8 billion. This they would get with Samaras (through a primary surplus)
Mr. Samaras failed in policies and did not implement measures
He stopped implementing the program after the European Elections
He designed the so-called parenthesis
He estimated that the new government will back off
And will therefore lose its mandate or public support

Open to debate

I am open to public debate
I do not fear dialogue and confrontation
I will go to debates with all political leaders
I convened parliament twice
I said openly and in public that whoever wants to, can come and meet with me
Mr. Samaras did not want to, but Dora Bakoyannis cam

Confidence in Varoufakis

If he had lost my confidence he would not be in his position
He gave very difficult battle under unfavorable conditions
From the first moment he was red flag
We all make mistakes, but he was targeted

On SYRIZA and the referendum

The referendum is to unite the people
If I did other than what I said before the elections, then I would put myself and my party above the country
I will serve the truth, and my beliefs
If the people want a prime minister humiliated and scorned let them choose someone else
There are many

On Europeans

I waited for different attitudes from Europeans
This is a finding which does not have to do whether i misjudged
It concerns whether Europe is in the hands of people that can lead it at this time
I'd like to think that faced with the popular verdict they will be forced to retreat
They did not do so with the elections
Now that the dilemma is clearer. I think there will be a reversal
The message is that the Greek government is at the table of negotiation
We are here
Our differences in terms of the budget are minimal
On the the rest [our differences] are very important
If a solution is found even at the last minute we will accept it

On markets

Markets are an integraal element of our daily lives
But aside from markets there are politcies
We currently have a weapon in our hands
Our justice
They say that Greece is isolated because the Eurogroup met without Varoufakis
In all the squares in Europe people demonstrate in our favor

Democracy will find a way

Fear is the biggest fear
Alarmism, terrorism, fearmongering
The people have the heart, soul, pride and dignity to do it