Today, March 17, Greek Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou assured the EU that his country will not abandon the single European currency.

“The possibility of (Greece) leaving the eurozone is zero,” the Greek prime minister said after a bilateral meeting in Brussels with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. This is how he responded to a request to comment on the statement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who considers it possible to exclude individual countries from the eurozone if this is necessary to prevent a crisis.

According to the German Chancellor, “in the future it is necessary to introduce a clause into European agreements that will allow, as a last resort, to exclude from the eurozone a state that violates the terms of the monetary union regularly and for a long time.”

At the same time, Mr. Papandreou stated the importance of creating a “European Monetary Fund or other types of instruments” to provide financial assistance to euro area members who find themselves in a crisis situation. However, according to him, we are not talking about the immediate creation of such financial instruments, and this is linked to the urgency of resolving the Greek issue.

At the same time, the Greek Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that the situation in Greece has put on the agenda the need for “greater economic coordination and firmer economic management and the creation of new institutions that will deepen our political and economic union.”

Giorgos Papandreou assured that Greece is following a reliable path out of the crisis.

Greece is facing a budget and debt crisis. The country plans to borrow up to 54 billion euros this year to refinance its total debt of 300 billion.

RIA News

Greece will not leave the eurozone