“It’s Greece’s legitimate right to hold a referendum and it needs to be said that this act of democratic sovereignty is the right of all the other governments in the EU…to have their own understanding of the situation,” Merkel said.
She added that the European Union is not under the threat of an economic disaster because of the situation in Greece.
Tuesday was the deadline for Athens and its international creditors to reach a deal on a new bailout package in exchange for austerity reforms. Greece was supposed to repay a $1.7-billion tranche to the International Monetary Fund on that day, but missed the deadline.
Greece will hold a referendum on July 5 to ask voters to decide whether to accept a new bailout deal offered by the country's international creditors.
Numerous European politicians, including French President Francois Hollande, stated that they believed that holding the referendum was a right of the Greeks.
