The UN Independent Experts on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas, and on human rights and international solidarity, Virginia Dandan, welcomed the holding of a referendum in Greece to decide by democratic process the path to follow to solve the Greek economic crisis without deterioration in the human rights situation.

In an announcement yesterday, the two experts underline that "Foreign debt is no excuse to derogate from or violate human rights or to cause retrogression in contravention of (…) the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. "(…)

They also add that “it is the moment for the international community to demonstrate solidarity with the people  of Greece, to respect their democratic will as expressed in a referendum, to proactively help them out of this financial crisis, which finds a major cause in the financial meltdown of 2007-08, for which Greece bears no responsibility. Indeed, democracy means self-determination, and self-determination often calls for referenda – also in Greece."