Embattled Greek PM Alexis Tsipras insisted on Monday said he believes euro zone partners won’t push the country out of the euro, saying he and the citizens are facing the ongoing Greek crisis “calmly”.

He spoke on the same day as a week-long bank holiday began in the country, complete with unprecedented capital controls — days after he suddenly announced a snap referendum in the middle of the night. The referendum asks Greek citizens to answer whether they accept a proposal by creditors, shifting the decision-making from his leftist government and Parliament MPs to voters.

Tsipras and his government have repeatedly called for a “no” in Sunday referendum.

“We call on you to reject it with all the power of your soul,” he said, speaking during a nationally televised interview on state-run television, and while fielding questions by two of the network’s journalists.
Other points by Tsipras:

“We’re not going to bury democracy in the land where it was born because a (bailout) program ends,”

“I do not believe that they will throw us out of the euro, and they won’t do this… costs would be tremendous”

“They don’t want a collapse of the euro zone, they want the collapse of hope — they want to reduce the political capital of a government that promised to change things”

“The Greek government does not want an exit or the breakup of the euro zone, but we will do whatever we can to ensure the survival of the Greek people,”

“A people, a country doesn’t go bankrupt, banks go bankrupt”.

“We’re amid conditions of an economic strangulation,”

“If the people want a prime minister that is humiliated and shamed, let them select one; there are many (candidates), but I am not one of them.”

“Our differences in terms of fiscal matters are non-existent; in terms of other issues, they are very significant. If they provide us with a solution, even at the last minute, we’ll take it.”