Samaras fears drachma ‘nightmare’

Conservative leader Antonis Samaras told Greeks they faced a stark choice between sticking with the euro or a “nightmare” return to the drachma in an election that threatens to send shockwaves through the single currency.

Addressing supporters before tomorrow’s pivotal vote, Samaras pledged again to renegotiate the punishing terms of the country’s international bailout to promote growth and jobs, but said that to “clash” with the country’s European partners would mean the end of Greece’s euro membership.

“We are going into an election to decide the future of Greece and of our children,” Samaras, 61, told the crowd of thousands waving Greek and EU flags in the capital’s central Syntagma square. “The first choice the Greek people must make is: Euro versus drachma.”