BERLIN (MNI) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday labeled
the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis as historic, warning that it will
take a long time to overcome the root causes of the problem.
“We’re facing a challenge which one can call historic,” Merkel said
in a speech in parliament.
“If the euro fails, then Europe will fail,” the Chancellor once
again warned. “The euro must not fail and it will not fail,” she vowed.
The crisis had shown that even a small Eurozone member state like
Greece “can endanger the whole currency” union, Merkel remarked.
In that context, the chancellor criticized that the efforts by
Greece to overcome its fiscal and structural problems are not yet
sufficient. “We cannot be satisfied with what we’re hearing out of
Greece at the moment,” she said.
Merkel once again rejected the idea of introducing eurobonds to
overcome the Eurozone debt crisis. “Eurobonds are the path into a debt
union, but we need a stability union,” she stressed.
The crisis can only be overcome by tackling the root cause, namely
the elevated public debt of most Eurozone member states, the chancellor
argued. Bringing down this debt will be “a long and difficult path,” she
acknowledged.
Turning to Germany, Merkel said there was currently no sign of
recession. Instead, healthy growth can be expected again this year. In
turn, the country’s public deficit will fall this year to 1.5% of GDP,
Merkel predicted.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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