Friday, 10. February 2012

:: Home > General News > Denying Greece support 'dangerous', Prll warns

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
30	31	1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	1	2	3	4

Add your event FREE

Today

Polls

02. 09. 10. - 14:00

Denying Greece support 'dangerous', Pr�ll warns

People�s Party (�VP) Vice Chancellor Josef Pr�ll has warned of "dangerous developments" as European Union (EU) member states have backed out of the previously agreed upon support package for Greece.

Speaking about the Czech Republic�s and Slovakia�s decision not to contribute to the 110-billion-Euro rescue bid agreed upon last May, he said today (Thurs): "Neighbouring countries of Austria are rejecting joint European processes. This is a very dangerous development."

The governments of both the Czech Republic and Slovakia recently made clear they would not provide any money for the EU�s bid to bolster ailing member state Greece and the Euro.

The vice chancellor claimed the Czech Republic�s situation differed from Slovakia�s since the former did not have the Euro as its currency. Pr�ll however criticised the country�s government for "acting too reservedly".

Pr�ll asked: "How can governments make any decisions in the future if withdrawing from agreements becomes a conventional practice?"

The Austrian government coalition of Social Democrats (SP�) and �VP agreed to provide around 2.3 billion Euros to the bid in support of Greece that the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed upon last May.

Opposition party representatives harshly criticised the coalition over the issue.

Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZ�) chief Josef Bucher claimed European leaders had "failed". He said: "They have now agreed to assist �money sink� Greece while not mentioning anything about a tax on risky financial speculation."

Bucher claimed the Euro "will be history" if speculators focused on struggling Spain and Portugal.

He went on the brand the coalition�s decision to cough up 2.3 billion Euros for the package for Greece as an "act of desperation without the legitimisation of parliament".

Pr�ll argued that hundreds of thousands of jobs in several European countries would have been at risk immediately had the EU let Greece down.

He however also warned that the "time of cheating and tricking" was over for Greece, adding he was "angry" about former Greek leaders� actions.

Freedom Party (FP�) head Heinz-Christian Strache attacked the SP� and the �VP for not having held a referendum before agreeing on Austria�s participation.

A recent Karmasin poll found 26 per cent of Austrians wanted the Schilling reintroduced as the Euro, the currency of 16 EU members, had depreciated in value compared to the US dollar. Austria joined the EU in 1995, and the Schilling was replaced by the Eurozone currency in 2002.

Meanwhile, the heads of Austria�s five biggest banks have said they will not reduce investments in Greece regardless of how the economic situation there develops.

Raiffeisenzentralbank (RZB) chief Walter Rothensteiner said: "We will not speculate against Greece, and we won�t reduce our investments in the country."

Austrian banking institutions have invested around 4.5 billion Euros in the debt-stricken country.

Austrian Times

Write your comment to this article here

Tag cloud:
Austria governments leaders Slovakia Schilling Czech Bucher currency billion criticised Euro European Josef Chancellor money coalition investments Greece agreeing speculation

Latest News

Set up tax on financial transactions soon, says Katzian
The head of the Association of Private Employees (GPA-djp) has called for a quick introduction of a tax on financial transactions.

P�hringer rejects U-turn on rightist ball
Young Social Democrats (SP�) have appealed to Upper Austrian Governor Josef P�hringer not to attend the Burschenbundball in Linz this Saturday.

FP� under fire after trip to Grozny
The Freedom Party (FP�) has been harshly criticised for meeting with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

WKO boss wants pension age hike incentives
Federal Economy Chamber (WKO) President Christoph Leitl has identified attempts to raise the average retirement age as the key issue regarding Austria�s budget.

Woman and child run over in Vienna
A woman and child have died in a road accident in Vienna, Austria. The lorry driver was making a right turn when he drove into a group of pedestrians leaving a 59-year-old and a 12-year-old dead. The mother of the school girl was left with serious injuries.

Schlecker says Austrian jobs are safe
The son of Schlecker founder Anton Schlecker has claimed that the company has no plans to sell its Austrian affiliate.

SP� sees smaller parliament as key signal
The general secretary of the Social Democrats (SP�) has argued his support for a reduction of the size of the parliament.

Austrian food to feature in organic trade fair
Austria is expected to be well represented at next week�s BioFach 2012 international organic trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany. Some 90 companies and organisations from the Austrian organic good sector will feature at the fair from 15 to 18 February.

Brothel for the homeless in Vienna
Homeless people are queueing up for free rooms in an Austrian brothel after owner Peter Laskaris said it would be unfair not to do everything he could during the current cold spell.

Deep-freeze snacks for orangutans in Sch�nbrunn
The lucky orangutans who take up residence in Europe�s oldest zoo have been indulging in a twice weekly take-away. Despite the trees in Sch�nbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria now being completely bare the fury friends have fresh branches and leaves delivered twice a week.