By Hajer M'tiri
PARIS
France and Germany have called Monday on Athens to make proposals "now," insisting they respected the result of the Greek referendum.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande met in Paris after a majority of Greeks rejected international creditors' bailout terms on Sunday.
"Door remains open for discussion and it now falls on the Tsipras government to make serious and credible proposals," Hollande said.
"[Greek PM] Alexis Tsipras has to translate his desire to remain in the eurozone with a group of sustainable proposals," he added.
"There is no time, it is a matter of emergency for Greece, as for Europe," the French leader said. "It is a matter of credibility and dignity for all of Europe."
Merkel emphasized that dialogue was still possible but added that conditions for a new "EU rescue package for Greece are not yet met, that's why we wait now for a precise proposal from the Greek prime minister."
"We say very clearly that the door for talks remains open and the meeting of eurozone leaders tomorrow [Tuesday] should be understood in this sense. But, at the same time, we say that the requirements for starting negotiations on a concrete European Stability Mechanism program are not present at the moment," she said.
No automatic Grexit
Earlier on Monday, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said the “No” vote would not mean an automatic exit from the eurozone for Greece and urged Athens to restart negotiations.
Speaking on the French Europe 1 radio station, Sapin said: "There is a risk of leaving the euro but there is no automatic exit in the same way that the vote doesn't mean automatically that Greece stays in the euro. What will determine whether it stays or leaves is the quality of negotiations that will start."
In remarks that seemed to be contradicted in Germany later, he said talks on reducing Greek debt burden were "not taboo".
"If, having won back their pride, they can return to negotiations, so much the better," Sapin said. "It is up to the Greek government to make proposals now."
The minister denied reports that Hollande had asked Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to remove Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who unexpectedly resigned on Monday morning.
Chief bailout negotiator Euclid Tsakalotos was named as finance minister to replace Varoufakis.
Tsakalotos, 55, is an economist turned politician who is a long-time SYRIZA supporter
In Sunday's referendum, more than 61 percent of Greek voters backed their government’s stance and voted “No” to further austerity measures proposed by its creditors. Greek banks were shut last week as the European Central Bank declined further emergency funding.
Since 2010, the EU and the IMF have allocated around 240 billion euros ($265 billion) in bailout loans to Greece to pay its creditors.
A 245 billion euro ($270.5 billion) bailout program under the European Financial Stability Facility ended late last month. Greece must make a 3.5 billion euro ($3.86 billion) payment to the European Central Bank on July 20 but analysts doubt Athens will be able to make the deadline.
Eurozone states will hold a summit on Tuesday to discuss the Greek referendum result.
