平地惊雷：希腊挟公投倒逼欧盟

    希腊总理乔治•帕潘德里欧宣布将就欧元区最新救助方案进行全民公投，似乎是决意要和欧盟玩一场豪赌的老鹰捉小鸡游戏，这令早已如履薄冰的形势立刻急转直下。要想取消这场公投，欧洲领导人可能最终将不得不冒险给希腊一个更好的方案。

    不清楚到底为什么帕潘德里欧现在决定站出来，呼吁举行公投。和美国加州、瑞士等地不同，全民公投在希腊极其罕见，上一次公投要追溯到遥远的1974年，当时是为了废除君主制。

    帕潘德里欧声称，由于最新的欧洲救助方案将给希腊带来巨大影响，有必要让民众来投票决定。这一说法令欧洲哗然。因为希腊政府推行两轮严厉的紧缩措施时没有举行公投，希腊决定接受欧盟（European Union）和国际货币基金组织（International Monetary Fund）几十亿欧元救助时同样没有举行公投。

    那么，现在究竟是唱的哪一出?虽然在严峻形势下要取得民众的信任票有其道理，但在一些市场人士看来此举完全是希腊放出的手段，用于倒逼欧盟给出更有利方案。希腊在这个时候宣布决定公投可能并不是巧合：希腊刚刚获得了欧盟和国际货币基金组织最新一轮的现金救助款，而且几天后二十国集团（G-20）峰会将在戛纳召开，欧盟本打算在会上向全世界展示欧洲终于达成了一致行动。

    “幕后可能有些不为公众所知的内幕，”一位与欧盟有紧密联系的投资组合经理告诉《财富》杂志（Fortune）。“帕潘德里欧显然是想让欧盟拿出更多的钱。”

    帕潘德里欧的公投决定看来确实让德国和法国措手不及。周三早间，两国官员宣布不会对救助方案作出任何调整，希腊要么全盘接受，要么干脆放弃几十亿欧元的救助款——如果没有这些救助款，希腊将无法继续偿还债务。

    Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou seems to playing an extremely high-stakes game of chicken with the European Union in his call for a national referendum on the euro zone's latest fix-it plan. The move has destabilized a situation that was already on thin ice. In the end, European leaders may have to sweeten the pot for Greece to make this vote go away.

    It is unclear why exactly Papandreou decided to step up now and call for a referendum. Unlike in places like California and Switzerland, referendums are extremely rare in Greece, with the last such vote held in 1974 when the country voted to abolish the monarchy.

    Papandreou claims that a vote by the people is necessary given the major impact the latest European fix-it plan would have on Greece. That rational has raised some eyebrows across the continent. A referendum wasn't used when the Greek government pushed through two rounds of tough austerity measures. Nor was it used when the country decided to take billions of euros in aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

    So what is really going on here? While receiving a vote of confidence from the people is justifiable given the seriousness of the situation, the move is being seen by some in the market as a way for Greece to push the EU into giving it a better deal. It probably isn't a coincidence that the call for the vote came after the country received its latest cash payment from the EU and IMF and a couple days before the G-20 summit in Cannes, where the EU was supposed to show the world that it has finally got its act together.

    "There is probably something going on behind the scenes that isn't being seen in the public eye," a portfolio manager with close ties to the EU told Fortune. "Papandreou is obviously trying to get the EU to step up with more cash."

    Germany and France seemed genuinely shocked by Papandreou's decision to call for a referendum. This morning, officials from both countries telegraphed that there would be no alterations made to the plan and that Greece was going to have to accept it in its entirety or lose the billions of euros in aid it needs to keep paying its bills.