Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou issued a not-so veiled threat to the EU today. In an address to the European Parliament, Papandreou said that if a EU-sponsored bail-out plan to address Greece’s debt crisis was not clearly defined at next week’s summit meeting, Greece would ask the International Monetary Fund for assistance.
For the EU, Greece’s turning to the Washington-based International Monetary Fund would be seen as a sign of European weakness. Worse still, it would be interpreted as confirmation of an internal conflict so great, that countries could not find a way to set aside their differences even to save one of their own. The likely result would be even more down-ward pressure on the euro.
Source: London Times