Greece's voters decide euro future in too-close-to-call poll

ATHENS: Greeks voted Sunday in a tightly fought referendum on whether to accept worsening austerity in exchange for more bailout funds, or reject it in a gamble that could see it crash out of the euro.

Polling stations were open across the country of 11 million people -- on far-flung Aegean islands, in the shadow of the 2,400-year-old Parthenon in Athens, to the northern border shared with fellow EU state Bulgaria.

The European Union and international investors were intently watching the poll, which was the biggest challenge to the European single currency since it came into being in 1999 and was adopted by Greece two years later.

The outcome was far from certain. Polls suggest the ´Yes´ and ´No´ camps are neck-and-neck.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras insists a ´No´ victory would strengthen his hand in negotiations with the country´s international creditors. But EU leaders warn it would effectively be a vote to leave the 19-nation eurozone -- a so-called "Grexit".

Tsipras´s flamboyant finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, on Saturday accused Athens´s creditors of "terrorism" for trying to sow fear around the vote. He has pointed out that no legal mechanism exists to force Greece out of what is meant to be an "irreversible" monetary union.

As the sun rose in a clear summer sky on Sunday, young and old were already queueing to have their say in schools and university buildings transformed into polling stations. Voting was to close at 7:00pm (1600 GMT), with results expected hours later.

Dimitris Halatsis, a teacher, said it was "a crucial day" and he was voting ´No´ because "it´s the only chance the government and Greece have to apply pressure" on the creditors.