Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, confirmed on Sunday the temporary closure of banks in Greece, according to AFP.

Sources close to the case were previously claiming that the banks and the Athens Stock Exchange will remain closed on Monday.

Does the ECB have something against Greece?

Tsipras condemned the European Central Bank for not increasing the emergency ceiling for Greek banks. Their decision was called “blackmail” by the Prime Minister, as their purpose is to make him give up the idea of organizing a referendum regarding Greece‘s status as a member of the European Union.

“The decision taken today by the ECB, to limit the liquidity available for Greek banks, forced the National Bank to suggest a bank holiday and restrictions on withdrawals,” Tsipras said in a press conference.

Moreover, the Greek Prime minister has described as “shameful” the refusal of the Eurozone leaders to not approve an extension of the financial aid program. He also added that the sent another the European Union and the ECB a new application for extension.

Tsipras assured everybody that their deposits are safe and the pensions and salaries will be received on time. He also mentioned that the referendum regarding Greece‘s status will be held next Sunday for sure.

People can’t live without physical money

On the other side, people have not received with open arms this announcement. Spontaneous protests erupted on the streets of Athens. Greeks queued for hours in front of ATMs, to ensure they do not run out of cash.

Thus, when the Prime Minister announced that the withdrawals will be limited and banks closed, people lost patience.

A lot of citizens consider that they don’t have any future as members of the European union. Protests were held in front of EU offices in Athens, where euro banknotes were burned.

For the moment, Greece status is unclear, even though a lot of sources claim that they’re close to a financial collapse.

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