Eurozone ministers face shock Greece referendum call

Eurozone ministers meet in Brussels on Saturday for a crunch meeting after a shock call for a referendum by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras threw a push to avert a default by Athens into confusion.

Greece will vote on July 5 on the outcome of negotiations with its international creditors that have dragged on since January, when Tsipras's Syriza party first took power on a promise of ending austerity.

The gambit by Tsipras heightened anxiety over a possible Greek default next Tuesday that could potentially push Greece towards an exit of the eurozone and risk throwing the European Union project as a whole into crisis.

"The people must decide free of any blackmail... the referendum will take place on July 5,» the 40-year-old prime minister said in a televised address to the nation late on Friday.

But the vote is five days after a June 30 deadline for Greece to pay the IMF 1.5 billion euros, a debt officials in Athens say they cannot afford without a deal for bailout cash with its EU creditors.

The referendum call stunned Greece, with reports of Greeks reportedly rushing to withdraw money in fear of capital controls and more financial chaos after six years of debt crisis -- five of those in recession.

In an early reaction, Germany' vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel urged Greeces European partners to remain open to the referendum.

"I think we would be well advised not to reject Mr. Tsipras's proposal out of hand,» the centre-left Gabriel told Deutschlandfunk radio.

"If it is clear that the vote is about a negotiated settlement, it makes some sense,» said Gabriel, who is number two to the hardline German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

An EU official added:: The referendum has a certain «logic».

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