Brussels: EU leaders upped pressure today on
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seeking to nail down aid for
Greece at a summit this week and warning that her resistance
may feed market attacks on the euro.
European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso led the
assault as a new poll showed the stakes rising in the Greek
debt crisis with 61 per cent of Germans opposed to a bailout,
and 40 per cent even wanting Berlin to quit the eurozone.
Barroso was backed by the bloc`s current Spanish chair,
which said Thursday and Friday`s summit was a defining moment
for Europe, with full-time EU president Herman Van Rompuy`s
office working flat out in search of compromise.
France said "new ideas" were required, with a yawning gap
between the willingness of some of Greece`s 15 eurozone
partners to cough up state-backed loans and calls echoed by
Italy to ensure full solidarity.
"We cannot prolong any further the current situation,"
Barroso told German daily Handelsblatt. "We need a decision at
this summit so that we know how we are going to manage the
Greek crisis."
Warning of "deep uncertainty," he underlined: "We can`t
keep going this way, we risk endangering the stability of the
eurozone and feeding speculation (on markets)."
The Greek crisis put new pressure on the euro as the
currency fell to a three-week low point at 1.3496 dollars,
while the interest rate demanded by investors to hold Greek
debt rose sharply to more than 6.5 per cent.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said
billions of euros of budget cuts already implemented by the
Greek government showed its commitment should be returned with
"trust" and "solidarity."
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has warned that
his government might be forced to turn to the International
Monetary Fund, an abhorrent idea for many eurozone states --
although one Berlin now says it can live with.
In a pointed put-down, Merkel said on Sunday that
"raising false expectations" of any deal at the summit -- even
without pressing the button on hard cash loans -- would itself
cause "turbulence" on markets.
Widespread unease among German taxpayers could be seen in
the Financial Times poll showing a hardening of opposition
ahead of a key regional election on May 9.
Buried under debts of 300 billion euros, Greece is
attempting to slash a runaway public deficit that is close to
13 percent of national output -- more than four times the
limit allowed by the eurozone.
PTI
