"We will continue even without Greece. The euro must be a stable currency and we want this to happen with Greece rather than without, but the priority is to maintain the stability of the euro”. The appeal launched by the German chancellor to the top leaders in Athens is clear Angela Merkel, who yesterday evening met in Cannes with the Greek premier, George Papandrou, to shed light on the announced referendum which has caused so much turmoil on the markets. The French premier was also present at the meeting Nicolas Sarkozy, who increased the dose: “It is up to the Greeks to decide whether they want to continue with us or not“. Almost a frontal attack, then tempered with an appeal so that "a political consensus can be rapidly built in Greece".
On the same line as Paris and Berlin too Jean-Claude Junker, president of the Eurogroup: “It is desirable that Greece stays in the euro, but not at any cost. Work is already being done on the question of how to ensure that there is no disaster for the citizens of the euro area. We are fully prepared for the situation."
In short, Papandreou was forced to unveil the consultation to which citizens will be called. The referendum, if there will be, will concern the permanence or not of Greece in the Eurozone, and not the troubled euro-saving agreement reached amidst a thousand difficulties on 27 October last. Furthermore, the vote will have to arrive quickly: at the latest in a month, not - as was said - in January.
But the idea of a referendum is also causing rifts within the Greek executive. The Minister of Finance, Evangelis Venizelos, stated that the Greek country's membership of the Eurozone "is a historic achievement for the Greek people, which cannot be questioned and cannot depend on a referendum". The Minister of Development, Michalis Chryssohoidis, also asked for the European bailout plan to be ratified quickly by Parliament.
For her part, the director of the international monetary fund, Christine Lagarde, he said that aid to Greece will be sent only after possible consultation. "As soon as the referendum is completed with all the uncertainties removed - said the Frenchwoman - we will make a recommendation to the IMF board on the sixth tranche of our loan to support Greece's economic programme".
