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Sarkozy, Merkel promise help, urge early Greece's referendum
  
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a press conference after a meeting on Greek situation in Cannes, south France, Nov. 2, 2011. Sarkozy and Merkel promised further help to Greece while urging the referendum announced by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to be held as soon as possible, in order to ease market uncertainties. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)

CANNES, France, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday night promised further help to Greece while urging the referendum announced by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to be held as soon as possible, in order to ease market uncertainties.


"We are determined to help Greece, but it requires Greece to meet its commitment… We want Greece to remain in the eurozone but it`s up to the Greek to decide," said Sarkozy after meeting with Papandreou for a crisis talk together with Merkel.

"We wish to continue to build up the euro and Europe with Greek friends but it`s up to the Greeks to decide if with us or not," Sarkozy said.

He added the leaders believed the Greece`s referendum should be held as soon as possible, probably on as early as December 4th or 5th, and that they "fully trust" the Greek people to make the right decision.

However, after taking the entire eurozone by surprise on Tuesday, Papandreou on Wednesday midnight told reporters that the Greek referendum on the latest European aid package for Athens might be held on Dec. 4.

"This is not a question only of the program, this is a question of whether we want to remain in the eurozone," the Greek prime minister said.

He said he believed the Greek people would make the "right decision" for the interest of the Greek people.


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French President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a press conference after a meeting on Greek situation in Cannes, south France, Nov. 2, 2011. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Meanwhile, Merkel said the leaders had agreed to accelerate the implementation of the “comprehensive package” designed to dispel the crisis at the latest EU summit last week in Brussels.

"No matter what the result of the Greece`s referendum is, we can do something good for the euro," she said, adding that they would never give up the euro even if Greece would ever exit the eurozone.

Papandreou`s referendum call came just five days after he signed up for a plan that requires continued austerity at home in return for 130 billion euros (about 180 billion U.S. dollars) in aid and a 50-percent writedown on Greek debt.

The strategy would also boost the spending power of Europe`s 440 billion-euro rescue fund to 1 trillion euros.

The positive gestures doubled the shock felt by jittery investors and sent global stock markets in a downward spiral following the Greek referendum call.

In a statement released earlier on Wednesday, the Elysee Palace said a mini European summit bringing together leaders from France, Germany, Italy and Spain as well as EU officials would be held on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

The special meeting will take place at 10:30 local time at Palais des Festival et des Congres in Cannes, where heads of the world`s leading 20 economies will gather for the G20 summit slated for Thursday and Friday.

The G20 summit, this year under the French presidency, is widely speculated to be dominated by the worsening sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a press conference after a meeting on Greek situation in Cannes, south France, Nov. 2, 2011.  (Xinhua/Wu Wei)


 
Date:2011-11-3 10:35:24     
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