AlHijjah 6, 1432, Nov 2, 2011, SPA -- Germany and France told Greece on Wednesday to make up its mind fast whether it wants to stay in the euro zone after a shock decision to call a referendum on a 130 billion euro ($178 billion) bailout sparked panic on global markets, according to Reuters. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel summoned George Papandreou for emergency talks in Cannes on the eve of a G20 summit of major world economies, to push for rapid implementation of measures to tackle the currency area's debt crisis, which Athens has thrown into doubt. The Franco-German duo first met the heads of European Union institutions and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday to discuss how to limit the damage from the Greek move and apply pressure for a swift outcome. EU and IMF board sources said Greece would not receive an urgently needed 8 billion euro aid instalment, due this month, until after the vote because official creditors wanted to be sure Athens would stick to its austerity programme. Sarkozy has said Papandreou's announcement of a referendum "took the whole of Europe by surprise" and his prime minister, Francois Fillon, told parliament: "Europe cannot be kept waiting for weeks for the outcome of the referendum. "The Greeks must say quickly and without ambiguity whether they choose to keep their place in the euro zone or not." Opinion polls suggest most Greeks think the deal thrashed out by euro zone leaders last week is a bad one, but much will depend on how Papandreou frames the debate, either on the bailout -- and the painful cuts it demands -- or membership of the euro, which remains popular. Greece's European partners will press for the latter. German Chancellor Merkel struck the same tone of exasperation and impatience as Fillon in comments before flying to Cannes for hastily arranged meetings of European Union policymakers (1630 GMT) and with Papandreou (1930 GMT). "We agreed a plan for Greece last week. We want to put this plan into practice, but for this we need clarity and the meeting tonight should help with precisely this," she said. -- SPA
