ATHENS: Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Thursday came out against embattled Prime Minister George Papandreou's plan for a referendum on whether the debt-hit country should stay in the euro.
"Greece's place in the euro is a historical conquest by the Greek people that cannot be placed in question... this cannot be made dependent on a référendum," he said in a statement after returning from G20 talks in Cannes.
Papandreou, who is facing a political revolt at home over his referendum plan, had been summoned to Cannes by angry eurozone leaders concerned that a hard-fought EU deal on Greece's debt would be fatally undermined as a result.
The beleaguered leader later agreed that Greece's future in the euro was at stake and said a vote could be called on December 4.
He did not reveal the exact wording of the referendum question, but said he was sure Greek voters wanted to stay in the euro.
"It is about whether we want to stay in the eurozone or not," Papandreou told reporters before returning to Athens.
European leaders have warned Papandreou that if Greece does respect the terms of the debt deal hammered out last week by eurozone leaders, it will not get "one more cent" from the next planned installment of EU and IMF bail-out.
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