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A few days after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras decided to call a referendum, the Greek state is no longer performing its basic functions, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini states in its editorial article. The decision was taken even though both he and the other members of SYRIZA's leadership were totally aware that only a few days later bank liquidity would be suspended and the next step would be the imposition of capital controls.

Many analysts believe the decision was taken consciously and the government had a plan B for Greece's exit from the euro zone, as indicated by the statements of Minister of Energy and leader of the Left Platform Panagiotis Lafazanis. Regardless of whether there was such a plan or things just failed to achieve the ultimate goal, namely to "intimidate" Europe, two days later Greece is already facing severe problems which are expected to worsen in the coming days. And it is more than clear that all this is because the government has neither the financial resources nor the experience to deal with the emergency situation in which it itself has put Greek society.

Yesterday, the National Insurance Institute IKA was not able to pay the pensions of former employees of the state telecommunications and electricity companies, OTE and DEI respectively. There is also a deficit of 300 million euro for the pensions of those who are insured in the insurance funds of freelancers OAEE and farmers OGA, which should have been paid in the coming days. To control the situation the government has pressed banks managements to lend in breach of the limits set by the Eurosystem.

At the same time, worried citizens, mainly pensioners, continue to form large queues at ATMs, as it is yet not clear when exactly they will be able to receive their pensions. The massive purchasing of products with a long shelf life at supermarkets and the queues at petrol stations are more than indicative of people’s anxiety over what to expect tomorrow.

No less worrying is the situation in the tourism sector where the number of cancelled reservations is constantly increasing. Despite the constant presence of police patrols, the number of thefts of older people after their visits to ATMs has increased as well as the robberies of homes where the owners are keeping money and jewellery. Ambulances and waste disposal trucks are not functioning in many places. The health services are striving to put under control the situation with prescriptions and in the pharmaceutical market, and, as added by Kathimerini, the protection of Greece’s external border in Evros, northern Greece, is raising problems as well.