Europe's make or break moment: Greek ex-PM
18 Jun 2012 1:07 AM GMT
Greece’s former prime minister George Papandreou said on Sunday that Europe faced a make or break moment, adding that the euro currency's problems went far deeper than those of his own country.
Speaking as his countrymen went to the polls in a historic election, Papandreou said closer banking union was needed across the EU, but that it would be ‘catastrophic’ for Greece if it had to leave the eurozone.
‘I think we're at a make or break point in Europe,’ Papandreou, who stood down as leader of the Pasok socialist party in March, told the BBC.
‘We must leave behind all this nationalistic rhetoric about who's to blame, whether it's about the southerners or the austere Germans or whatever. We need to work together, we need to pool our strengths.’
Papandreou said Greece was merely a harbinger of ‘deeper problems’ in the European Union and the eurozone, particularly the lack of a banking union, common fiscal policy and common economic policy.
But he warned of the potential consequences of voting for parties that oppose Greece's bailout conditions and could force the country out of the eurozone, saying a ‘Grexit’ could lead to a bank run and high inflation.
‘This would be a major catastrophe and this would have not only social but also political consequences, which I believe will make it much more difficult for Greece to reform,’ he said.
Speaking as his countrymen went to the polls in a historic election, Papandreou said closer banking union was needed across the EU, but that it would be ‘catastrophic’ for Greece if it had to leave the eurozone.
‘I think we're at a make or break point in Europe,’ Papandreou, who stood down as leader of the Pasok socialist party in March, told the BBC.
‘We must leave behind all this nationalistic rhetoric about who's to blame, whether it's about the southerners or the austere Germans or whatever. We need to work together, we need to pool our strengths.’
Papandreou said Greece was merely a harbinger of ‘deeper problems’ in the European Union and the eurozone, particularly the lack of a banking union, common fiscal policy and common economic policy.
But he warned of the potential consequences of voting for parties that oppose Greece's bailout conditions and could force the country out of the eurozone, saying a ‘Grexit’ could lead to a bank run and high inflation.
‘This would be a major catastrophe and this would have not only social but also political consequences, which I believe will make it much more difficult for Greece to reform,’ he said.
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