Greek divisions

Greek divisions

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"The European Union doesn't care if I have money or not," says Leonidas Tsiros, who has spent his time drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes in a café in Elefsina since he lost his job in 2010.

"And I don't care anymore if we leave Europe," he said as other men in the cafe backed him up with cries of "No!".

In Elefsina, northwest of Athens, home to Greece's largest oil refiner, many people do not think they have much to lose by a “no” vote in Sunday’s referendum.

. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

The bitter debate over market reforms raging between Greece and its creditors, show how unpredictable the vote is likely to be in the divided country.

In Athens, for many people things are not much better, but Michalis Fioravantes, a state-funded teacher, says he will support the "yes" vote and conjures visions of wartime conditions if the bailout is rejected.

"It will take Greece back to the times of my father and mother who lived during the German occupation," he said. "I grew up listening to stories of hunger and death. If we leave the euro, this will happen in a different form but the outcome will be the same."

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. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
. ELEFSINA, Greece. REUTERS/Marko Djurica