ATHENS: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has rejected European warnings that Greeks will be deciding on their future in the euro zone in a referendum, saying negotiations would continue for a better deal with international creditors after the vote.

In a televised address, Tsipras said a report by the International Monetary Fund which arguing that Greece’s massive public debt could not be sustained without significant writedowns vindicated his advice to reject the lenders’ terms.

Repeating his assault on European partners he accused of blackmailing and issuing ultimatums to Greece, the leftist leader called for calm ahead of Sunday’s ballot, as two opinion polls showed the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps neck-and-neck.

“On Sunday what is at stake is not Greece’s membership of Europe, what is at stake is whether blackmail will lead us to accept the continuation of a policy which the lenders themselves recognize is a dead end,” he said.

“On Sunday what is at stake is whether we will give our consent to the slow death of the economy.”

European policy makers fired fresh warnings of the costs of a ‘No’ vote in a plebiscite called at just eight days’ notice after the breakdown of talks with the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble dismissed Tsipras’ version that his government would be able to move smoothly to negotiate more favorable terms if Greeks backed his rejection.

“If the Greeks will vote ‘No’, the Greek position is dramatically weakened,” Juncker told a news conference.

Schaeuble, a hate figure for Greek opponents of austerity policies, told Bild newspaper: “Greece needs reforms. But I already know now: These would be very difficult negotiations.”

BRINKMANSHIP

Tsipras is betting Europe will compromise rather than let Greece slip out of the eurozone, even though the continent’s leaders say a “No” vote would signal its exit.

But behind the rhetoric, there were more concrete signs of the pressure Europe can exert on Greece.

The euro zone’s rescue fund, Greece’s largest creditor, said it was reserving the right to call in 130.9 billion euros of debt ahead of time after Athens defaulted on an IMF loan.

One poll by the respected ALCO institute, published in the Ethnos newspaper on Friday, put the ‘Yes’ camp on 44.8 percent against 43.4 percent for the ‘No’ vote. But the lead was well within the pollster’s 3.1 percentage point margin of error, with 11.8 percent saying they are still undecided.

Another survey for Agvi newspaper put the ‘No’ fractionally head with 43 percent to 42.5 percent for the ‘Yes’ and 9 percent undecided.

Given a volatile public mood and a string of recent election results that ran counter to opinion poll predictions, the result is in effect completely open.

With banks shuttered all week, cash withdrawals rationed and commerce seizing up, the vote could decide whether Greece gets another last-ditch financial rescue in exchange for more harsh austerity measures or plunges deeper into economic crisis.

There has been little time for campaigning but Tsipras is due to address a mass rally of ‘No’ supporters in Athens’ central Syntagma Square outside parliament on Friday evening, while ‘Yes’ campaigners plan a rally at the old Olympic Stadium.