Greek referendum: former prime ministers throw support behind yes vote

Costas Karamanlis, Antonis Samaras and Constantine Mitsotakis, as well as Athens mayor, have told the public to not isolate the country within the EU

With Greece's European future hanging in the balance, a phalanx of former prime ministers have emerged to urge the nation to vote yes in Sunday's nail-biting referendum over reforms that would ensure continued financial assistance for the country.

Breaking five years of self-imposed public silence, the former conservative leader Costas Karamanlis implored Greeks to avoid "recklessness and division" by voting to belong to the European family. The EU may have made "serious mistakes" in the crisis, he said, but it was vital that Greece remained in Europe's hard core.