setUoYouRPROFILE's blog: "tufui"

CANNES, France—Europe's leaders, making plain that they've reached the end of their patience with Greece, demanded that the beleaguered nation declare whether it wanted to remain in the euro currency union—or risk going it alone in a dramatic secession. "Does Greece want to remain part of the euro zone or not," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "That is the question the Greek people must now answer." The extraordinary rupture with the rest of Europe—burberry outlet cheapwhose leaders have insisted for months that an exit from the currency union is simply inconceivable—follows Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's stunning decision Monday to call a referendum on his country's bailout. Given the deep unpopularity of the budget-cutting measures that have accompanied the bailout, a "no" vote is a real possibility. That could send Greece, and possibly the euro zone itself, into chaos. Mr. Papandreou said the referendum could be held Dec. 4 or 5 at the earliest, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Ms. Merkel said. Greek Parliament must vote on whether the referendum is held. World leaders are gathering in this Riviera city, more accustomed to movie stars than motorcades, for the annual summit of the Group of 20 large developing and industrialized nations. But the deliberations of the G-20 are now a sideshow to the Greek main event. In a series of hurriedly scheduled meetings, Europe's top powers huddled to plot their strategy for responding to the new uncertainty posed by Greece and to dress down the Greek prime minister. Wednesday evening, before the official kick-off of the G-20 summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Ms. Merkel, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and the two top officials of the European Union, José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy, met in a strategy session. In a phone call earlier in the day, Mr. Barroso told Mr. Papandreou that the referendum call threatened his country's lifeline of aid.