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Greece would face a real risk of default if through the referendum, its citizens rejected the last bailout, said the President of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker.

In an interview with RTL radio, he said that the Greek prime minister took the decision to hold a referendum without consulting the other European leaders.

He said that the Greek prime minister took the decision without commenting on it with his European partners and added that this was something that would lead to more nervousness and cause great uncertainty in an already existing environment of uncertainty. Therefore, it should be decided how to handle this in a calm manner.

Asked whether a possible Greek negative vote on the referendum would mean default for the country, Jean-Claude Juncker said that he could not exclude this possibility, but it all would depend on how the matter would be placed and what the Greek citizens would vote for. He also said that the issue would be discussed during the summit of the leaders of the 20 richest countries in the world, which will be held in Cannes in two days.

According to the rating agency Fitch, the rejection of the programme adopted a week ago would raise the risk of involuntary and uncontrollable collapse and eventual exit from the euro area. Agency’s analysts are warning that both scenarios would have serious impacts on the fiscal stability and the future of the eurozone. As for the Greek referendum, the agency has warned that the consequences of a possible Greek "no" are extremely vague.

Frustration and anger are the emotions defining the atmosphere in Brussels after the Greek prime minister’s call to hold a referendum in the country, correspondents of Greek media reported. Even those representatives of the European institutions, who are generally moderate in their statements and have experience in the management of various emergencies, are indulging their anger.

European Commission officials said to real.gr correspondent in the Belgian capital that this was another Greek fraud. The bet in a referendum would be between taking some more measures and remain in the euro area or becoming like Argentina. "We knew that there was an economic problem, i.e. economic problem for the existence of Greece. Now the prime minister raises a political question. It concerns Greece’s remaining in the area of ​​the common currency and the European Union," they added.

Asked by the media whether they had known in Europe in advance about the intentions of George Papandreou, a superior official replied firmly that neither the Greek prime minister, nor any of his associates had raised, hinted or suggested a referendum on ratification of the new bailout to Greece. These same officials claim that it was not possible for a country that has not held referendums on its membership in the European Union and joining the common currency to be willing to do this with the bailout agreement, even theoretically.

European Commission officials have indicated that none of the parties under supervision has set conditions of supervision under citizens discretion. "The conditions for the participation of member-states of the euro area were determined at the outset by the states’ leaders and governments and are stated in the Stability Pact. The Greek Parliament ratified it and the governments are obliged to exercise fiscal policy according to its requirements. In this sense, any government, prime minister, political parties and citizens of a country know very well what their duties are."

Similar is the atmosphere among the European Council diplomats and among other economic factors. Sources close to the former president of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet from Frankfurt said that the position of the European Central Bank and Mr. Trichet was that today's crisis, not of the euro, but of some of the countries that participate in it, was solely due to the fact that they did comply with the requirements set in the Stability Pact.

Responses of European capitals are yet to come. Earlier, the Finnish Minister for European Affairs said that the referendum the Greek prime minister had called for the ratification of the new bailout would become a vote for or against the participation of Greece in the euro area.

Most of the major world media were greatly surprised and pessimistic about the news of a referendum in Greece. Many of their correspondents and analysts did not hesitate to identify this move as the "last bet" of George Papandreou’s government.

Financial Times correspondent defined the statement as a surprising announcement with unknown outcome because the PASOK parliamentary group is segmented.

"The premier’s move reinforced concerns that Greece’s fraught domestic politics are spiralling out of control amid growing popular anger over public sector job cuts and tax increases. The referendum also looked likely to cause alarm in Brussels, Paris and Berlin just a week after Mr. Papandreou’s assurance that Greece was determined to maintain a steady pace of reform," reads the British edition adding that even party representatives had identified Papandreou’s sudden move as shocking. The article quotes the statement of an "Athens-based-banker" who kept his anonymity and said, "This is a worrying decision by the prime minister. It could drail the whole process even before it’s properly started."

The Guardian highlights the lack of tradition of holding referendums in Greece. The world news agency Associated Press defines the news as a huge political bet for Greece and its prime minister. The move allows the Socialist deputies who were demonized in recent months during strikes and heavy protests against the stringent economic measures to transfer the responsibility for the fate of the country to the citizens of Greece.

The French daily Le monde points out the particularly negative attitude of the Greeks to the 50% government debt haircut, which was adopted last week in Brussels.

According to BBC, the Greek government wants a vote of confidence from parliament, while the PASOK party has had particularly negative reactions to the applied policy.

Associated Press points out that many members of PASOK were fully surprised and that George Papandreou had not announced specific dates for the referendum and the vote of confidence in parliament. The referendum would be the first to be organized in the country since 1974, when after the fall of the military junta the monarchy in the country was abolished, states the world news agency.