Sarkozy Rules Out Debt Restructuring, Not Private Burden-Sharing
DEAUVILLE, France (MNI) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy
excluded Friday an outright restructuring of Greece's debt but left open the door for "sharing the burden" with the private sector.
Speaking after consultations with Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G8 summit here, Sarkozy made clear that he shared Germany's long-standing position that governments and their taxpayers should not shoulder responsibility for the financial crisis alone.
"France will not use the word 'restructuring'," Sarkozy declared. "We must not envisage this reality."
However, if the issue is whether the private sector can "share part of the burden, we are not at all in 'restructuring'," he said. "There is no problem....It's the direction to which each side should converge."
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The important thing is that we will defend and support the euro and the solidarity" within the Eurozone, Sarkozy said. "The credibility of European countries is capital, and we cannot and will not compromise on this term of credibility."
"As for the participation of the private sector, there are many ways to do it without damaging this credibility," he said.
Germany is "a strategic partner for France," he stressed. "I won't say anything that could disrupt the collaboration of confidence with Madame Merkel and the German government, which is indispensable."
"Anything that could jeopardize the future of the euro would jeopardize the future of Europe and even the future of France and of Germany," he said.
While Greece's debt problems were not on the agenda of the G8, the situation of the Eurozone was discussed -- its strong growth since the start of the year and its relatively favorable overall deficit situation compared to other economic zones, Sarkozy said.
The French president noted a "paradox" in evoking a crisis of the euro at a time when the single currency's exchange rate against the dollar is higher than when it was first launched, "which sometimes poses a problem -- the high level of the euro -- in financing our exports."
Asked by journalists whether US President Barack Obama had lent his support to the candidacy of French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde for the helm of the IMF, Sarkozy said he would allow Obama himself announce his decision.
Nevertheless, noting the "personal" encouragement US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed for Lagarde, Sarkozy quipped, "It would be hard for me to imagine there is a disagreement" between her and Obama.
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Soliti bizantinismi.
Hanno imparato dai greci ...
