Greek papers survey euro exit 'uncharted waters'

Ta Nea asks "When will banks reopen?" while I Avyi urges Greeks to vote No in the referendum

Major Greek newspapers are apprehensive about what may follow the upcoming referendum on bailout terms with the country's creditors.

Centre-left Ta Nea is scathing in its criticism of the government, saying the closure of banks "is freezing the economy and causing the private sector many problems".

The referendum will moreover "divide the Greek people" and "endanger the country's European identity, with immense consequences for the future".

As for the impact of exit from the eurozone, Ta Nea says "not even the most rabid anti-Europeans can imagine the catastrophe for the millions of Greeks who haven't sent their money abroad".

Conservative I Kathimerini has a list of questions that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras needs to answer if he is to dispel "misleading vagueness about the country's future".

In particular, it asks why he sprang the referendum on the public with no consultation, and wonders exactly what sort of agreement he would be prepared to sign.

'Heartless stepmother'

Pro-government I Avyi naturally praises the prime minister's refusal to "hand over the country in chains to its creditors", accusing them of "banking blackmail".

It defends the closure of banks as "protective measures to avoid panic", and believes the referendum announcement has seen the major European countries "rush to drop their latest proposal and withdraw the ultimatum".

The paper predicts that a "wave of sympathy for the struggle of the Greek people" will rally opposition throughout Europe against the "threat the grey boot of banking neo-liberalism poses to the whole continent".

Centrist Dimokratia has some sympathy for the government, accusing the European Union of "acting like a heartless stepmother" in virtually deciding to "drive Greece out of the European family".

'Uncharted waters'

Rizospastis, the Communist Party newspaper, has no time for either the government or its creditors, saying their proposals amount to an unnecessary choice between "Scylla and Charybdis" - two sea monsters in Greek mythology.

It calls for a "no" vote in the referendum, in order to "disengage from the European Union and put the people in power".

Centre-left Ethnos agrees that the creditors' demands have been "excessive", but issues a heartfelt plea for voters to declare that "Europe is and will remain our home".

"What we will ultimately decide is whether we want to remain a member of the European family or prefer to wander lost in the uncharted waters of 'another solution', of which the closed banks and 'stingy' cash machines are only a taster," it warns.

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.