Austria ready to help Greece
Austria ready to help Greece without delay, officials says
ANA-MPA Daily News Bulletin, Tuesday 27 April 2010
VIENNA (ANA-MPA - D. Dimitrakoudis)
Austria is ready to give Greece financial assistance without delay, Austrian government officials said here on Monday.
Austrian Finance Minister Josef Proell said that Austria already possessed a legal basis for providing the support to Greece and his country was thus ready to act immediately.
According to Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, Austria supported a rapid activation of Eurozone countries' aid to Greece, while stressing that all Eurozone countries should have an interest in keeping the euro stable.
Spindelegger said he expected a deal to be made and that "it won't be necessary for one country to undertake to help another through loans". The minister also stressed that the assistance, "which is obviously urgently needed, must also bring effective results and this will be possible if it is activated as soon as possible".
Proell, in comments on a letter he received from his Greek counterpart George Papaconstantinou requesting activation of the EU support mechanism, said that he had been expecting Greece's request for financial assistance.
"The important thing now is that the figures of the Greek budget are not cast into doubt," he stressed, adding that the experts of the European Central Bank, European Commission and the International Monetary Fund that were currently examining the specific form of the support to Greece must ensure that the terms for the financial assistance were observed.
"On condition that Greece observes all the terms for the execution of its budget, we are prepared to contribute to the stabilization of the Eurozone," he said, while assuring Austrian tax-payers that the assistance would cost them nothing since it would be given in the form of a loan that would be paid back with interest.
