File Photo: Greeks and their supporters gather holding banners in support of their countrymen in Sydney on July 4, 2015, a day before nearly 10 million Greek voters take to the ballot booths to vote 'Yes' or 'No'. (Agence France-Presse)
The German Red Cross said today it was willing to rush medical and other humanitarian aid to Greece as the country's economy teetered on the brink of collapse.
"We are ready in every respect," German Red Cross spokesman Dieter Schutz said in an interview with the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper.
"Pensioners, the poor, the sick and refugees" have been hit hardest, he said.
"There are already problems with medical care," he added, in an apparent reference to stocks of drugs.
The German government is seen as Greece's most stubborn opponent in negotiations over how to tackle the financial crisis, refusing to allow a restructuring of Greek debt without reforms.
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday that an emergency eurozone meeting on Tuesday should discuss humanitarian aid for Greece, where banks have been closed since June 28 amid fears of an imminent collapse of the financial system.