AN ANNOUNCEMENT MADE OUT OF THE BLUE The Greeks will decide the survival of the Eurozone

With her skirt decently below the knee, on Monday night, the European Union was watching TV and eating popcorn, happy that she had finally managed to patch together a plan to rescue the Eurozone, when Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou suddenly appeared on screen and announced that he would hold a referendum, on the approval of the foreign aid package of 130 billion Euros agreed with the European leaders in October.

The European Union thought she was watching "Muppets".

"Will the Greeks accept the new agreement or not? If they do not want it, it will not be adopted", Papandreou said, who announced that he would hold the referendum in a few weeks, but Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos said it would take place in January. After that, the EU felt like it was watching "Wackos in the EU".

Except it wasn"t either. It was the news from the public television in Athens.

The glasses of the European Union fell off its nose, and so did its popcorn.

And so did its stocks.

The poor European Union fell on its back, eyes popping out, babbling angrily: the president of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxemburg, said for radio station RTL that he does not rule out the Greek default in the event of a negative vote in the Referendum (a recent Greek poll showed that 60% of the Greeks disagree with the foreign financial aid").

The European Union choked with anger, and Germany nearly had a heart attack: the president of the "Bavarian Financial Centre" "think tank" said: "This proves once again what a huge mistake it was, not kicking Greece out of the Eurozone in the first place", and Joerg Rocholl, president of the "European School of Management and Technology" in Berlin said that the Referendum announced by Papandreou could lead to "Greece no longer being a part of the European Union".

The European Union is feeling blackmailed.

In order to rescue Greece (as well as it own hide), the European Union went to China for money, on its knees, and China gave it three answers:

1. "Yes",

2. "No",

3. "We will see".

Anyone that believes China has multiple personalities is obviously an alien.

China does indeed want to help the European Union, except not now.

A little bit later.

When the European Union starts choking.

That"s no secret.

Anyone who was watching the fact that Greece had its own talks with China, should remember the fact that, amazingly, it wasn"t the Greeks that went to the Chinese, rather the other way around.

And the fact that the success and the harmony of the Chinese business mission were announced in the Greek press, in a manner reminiscent of "China Daily".

To the Chinese, Greece is the magic key to unlock the door to Europe.

It"s all a game.

Papandreou plays his card, an ace up his sleeve.

"Mr. Papandreou is dangerous, he tosses Greece's EU membership like a coin in the air", Yannis Michelakis, the spokesperson to the opposition party said, whereas Howard Wheeldon, analyst with BGC Partners, also discussed the game of cards: "If there were a referendum, we could draw the conclusion that there would be no austerity measures. We could come to the conclusion that the whole castle of cards could collapse".

The leader of the New Democracy opposition party, Antonis Samaras, was going to discuss with Greek president Karolos Papoulias, in order to request the quick holding of early elections, and Papandreou was asked to resign.

The Greeks themselves are angry, and they view the initiative of the referendum as an attempt to regain popularity:

"What do you mean, vote as if this were an election?" a citizen from Athens asked, in the "Kathimerini" publication.

Another one was outraged: "It is absurd! Isn"t it their responsibility to decide?!"

Another citizen had this to say: "The return to the drachma would be disastrous".

On American websites, the surprise announcement of the Greek Prime Minister sparked sarcastic cheers: "Well played Mr. Papandreou!"

Indeed, the way the move of the Greek Prime Minister manner has changed the roles, just like in the famous joke, known by everybody, where a borrower"s inability to repay a loan becomes the bank"s problem when the loan is very big, and the bank and its future depend on seeing the loan repaid.

That"s what the European Union saw on TV.

That it would no longer go to China on its knees; it would do so crawling on its belly.

That"s why her popcorn spilled on the floor; and her garters are showing.