Greeks take step into the unknown after delivering emphatic rebuke to austerity

Greek voters decisively rejected a bailout proposal that officials in Athens had scorned as "blackmail", giving their government a desperately needed victory in its showdown with European creditors .

After five years of economic crisis and mass unemployment, "No" won a landslide 61.3 per cent - a bigger margin than nearly anyone had predicted. The result sent thousands of government supporters streaming into central Athens' Syntagma Square to wave blue-and-white Greek flags, dance to traditional folk songs and revel in their collective defiance of dire European warnings.

But even as they celebrated, an angry reaction from European officials suggested that Greece's profound economic struggles might be only just beginning. With Greek banks on the verge of insolvency, analysts immediately raised the odds that Greece would soon be ejected from the euro. Government opponents despaired that the country might have just taken a dark turn.

In a speech to the nation, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras praised the Greek people for their "very brave choice", and promised it would be rewarded. "You gave me the power not to break away from Europe, but to achieve an agreement with Europe that will take us away from austerity and bring us into a new era," he said.

Tsipras called the referendum a little over a week ago, gambling that voters would back him in his rejection of Europe's latest cash-for-cuts deal, and give him leverage to win a better offer. The outcome represented an extraordinary rebuke to the established European order, one that shook the continent to its core.

Yet despite Sunday's victory, it remained unclear whether Tsipras's gamble would pay off. The European Council announced late on Sunday that the continent's leaders would convene an emergency summit today to discuss Greece. Finance ministers will also gather.