????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.????
