歐洲領導人警告希臘勿寄望公投討價還價

European leaders warned Greeks that Sunday’s vote on the country’s international bailout was a referendum on its membership of the eurozone, insisting rejection would bring no better offer and could have disastrous economic consequences.

歐洲領導人警告希臘，本週日就該國國際紓困舉行的全民公投將是有關希臘的歐元區成員身份的公投，他們堅持表示，否決不會帶來更好方案，反而可能帶來災難性經濟後果。

The warning came as Greece edged closer to default with a Greek official conceding that the country will not make a 1.6bn payment to the International Monetary Fund due by midnight.

發出這一警告之際，希臘正接近債務違約，一位希臘官員承認，該國不會向國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)償還將於今日午夜到期的16億歐元債務。

Missing the payment will put Greece in a category with Zimbabwe, Sudan and Cuba — though credit rating agencies and eurozone officials insist the move will not affect Athens’ other loans. Far more consequential is a 3.5bn payment that Athens must make to the European Central Bank next month.

無法償還這筆債務將讓希臘與津巴布韋、蘇丹和古巴爲伍，不過信用評級機構和歐元區官員堅稱，此舉不會影響希臘其他貸款。遠比這更爲重大的是希臘下月必須付給歐洲央行(ECB)的35億歐元。

Markets tumbled at the start of the week’s trading yesterday but a later rally suggested that few anticipate a repeat of the contagion at the height of the eurozone debt crisis four years ago.

昨日金融市場在開始一週的交易之際普遍下挫，但後來的反彈似乎表明，沒什麼人預測4年前歐元區債務危機最嚴重時期的蔓延狀況會重演。

Yesterday’s drama was sparked by Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras’ weekend decision to break off talks with his country’s creditors, call a snap referendum on their bailout offer and close the country’s banks. He has argued that a No vote would give him more leverage to strike a better deal for Greece.

觸發昨日市場動盪的原因是希臘總理亞歷克西斯•齊普拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)上週末決定停止與該國債權人的談判，轉而就債權人的紓困方案舉行全民公投，同時關閉該國銀行。他辯稱，公投結果爲“不”將爲他撐腰，讓他爲希臘達成更有利協議。

But François Hollande, the French president, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, and Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, argued a No vote could lead to Greece leaving the eurozone.

但法國總統弗朗索瓦•奧朗德(François Hollande)、歐盟委員會(European Commission)主席讓-克洛德•容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)以及意大利總理馬泰奧•倫齊(Matteo Renzi)辯稱，公投結果爲“不”可能導致希臘脫離歐元區。