Greeks want to stay in eurozone, two polls show

Two opinion polls indicate most Greeks want to keep using the shared euro currency and would prefer a deal with Greece’s European partners rather than a rupture.

The polls published Sunday were both conducted before Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared early Saturday that he was calling a referendum on financial proposals made by Greece’s creditors in return for continuing to fund the country with bailout loans. Still, they provide an indication of public sentiment.

In the poll by Alco for the Proto Thema Sunday paper, 57 percent said they believed Greece should make a deal with its EU partners while 29 percent wanted a rupture. A separate poll by Kapa Research for the To Vima newspaper found 47.2 percent of respondents would vote in favor of a new, painful agreement with Greece’s creditors, compared to 33 percent who would vote no and 18.4 percent undecided.

Both nationwide polls were conducted from June 24-26. The Alco poll had a margin of error of 3.1 percent while Kapa Research’s was 3.09 percent. [AP]