Greece has voted a resounding “No” in its referendum on whether to accept the latest bailout proposal from its European creditors.

And for Nobel Laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, this is a win for all of Europe.

“Tsipras and Syriza have won big in the referendum,” Krugman wrote on Sunday, “strengthening their hand for whatever comes next. But they’re not the only winners: I would argue that Europe, and the European idea, just won big — at least in the sense of dodging a bullet.”

Krugman, who last week wrote that he would vote “No” if he were voting in the referendum, argues in his post on Sunday that Greece’s vote against the bailout program Greece’s creditors were seeking to impose on it strengthens the case for democracy in Europe.

Krugman writes that, “we have just witnessed Greece stand up to a truly vile campaign of bullying and intimidation, an attempt to scare the Greek public, not just into accepting creditor demands, but into getting rid of their government. It was a shameful moment in modern European history, and would have set a truly ugly precedent if it had succeeded.”

And so with the Greek people shooting down the vision that other Europeans had for their economy and future prospects, Krugman believes that all Europeans — as voters and participants in democracy — won on Sunday.

As for whether this means Greece will leave the euro, Krugman says there is a decent case for a “Grexit” now, but says that no matter if Greece stays or goes, Sunday’s vote shows that, “democracy matters more than any currency arrangement.”

Read Krugman’s full piece at the New York Times here »

And find all of Business Insider’s coverage of the referendum and the aftermath here »

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