Greece under increasing pressure to stay in eurozone

GREEK prime minister Georges Papandreou was last night expected to insist he would do it his way when he met the leaders of the two largest eurozone countries just ahead of today’s G20 meeting in Cannes.

German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy put him under pressure to make the issue of his surprise referendum that of whether his country would remain in the eurozone or not. The pressure is expected to be increased this morning as euro members of the G20 (Germany, France, Italy and Spain) meet with representatives of the European Commission, the European Council, the ECB and possibly the IMF, according to statements from Paris.

Having horrified EU leaders with his decision to call a vote of his citizens, a Greek spokesperson said Mr Papandreou would make the issue that of accepting the conditions attached to the second bail-out package.