European leaders threatened to cut off an already overdue tranche of €8bn in international aid to Greece as they piled pressure on Athens over its plan to hold a referendum on the eurozone’s latest rescue plan for the debt-crippled country.
José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, delivered the warning by telephone to George Papandreou hours before the Greek premier was due in Cannes for a showdown meeting with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, German chancellor Angela Merkel and other key leaders, a senior European official said.
Mr Papandreou’s surprise announcement on Monday of the referendum plunged the eurozone back into turmoil days after a €130bn rescue plan had been painstakingly negotiated .