eKATHIMERINI: Lagarde, Juncker express solidarity to Greek people
The serious possibility of the crisis expanding to Spain and of a possible Greek exit from the eurozone depending in the outcome of the June 17 election, that Moody’s warned would see a downgrade for the bloc’s countries with the top credit rating, have generated huge worries among European officials.
In this context the French head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, stressed in Saturday’s edition of German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung the lack of a long-term vision in Europe.
The IMF managing director also spoke in favor of a European banking watchdog, of common guarantees for bank deposits, and of a so-called “debt repayment accord” as proposed by German experts, while expressing her confidence that Greece will overcome the crisis.
Lagarde reiterated that what she said last month in an interview to The Guardian newspaper was misunderstood: “I said that I feel great respect for the sacrifices the Greek people are making to overcome the crisis. I also said that I am sorry that my observations [about Niger] were misunderstood and hurt some people’s feelings. That was not my intention.
“In the last few years we support Athens very warmly and we are aware of the difficulties Greece has been going through. We continue to believe that the country will get over the crisis and have a better future, when all parties involved take the appropriate measures as they are supposed to. I assure you that the IMF, just like myself, are fully supporting Greece.” » | ekathimerini.com | Saturday, June 09, 2012
