Luxembourg pledges financial lifeline to Greece

Luxembourg's Finance Minister has offered the financial support of all Euro zone countries to help cash-strapped Greece emerge from its crisis intact.

Luc Frieden said in an interview with the daily newspaper Handelsblatt: “We have no choice. Europe is one big united community.

“All the member countries of the euro zone are aware that the euro has already greatly helped  Greece, because it is a strong currency.
“We will not let Greece become a risk for the euro zone,” he added.

Weakest link

Greece became known as the weakest link in the euro zone when the scale of its budget deficit and national debt emerged at the end of last year.

In a bid to avoid a knock-on effect on the rest of the euro zone countries, Europeans have decided to supervise Greece's budget to ensure it puts its finances in order.

Assurances

“No euro zone country will go bankrupt,” assured the minister.

This week the European Commission sent a team of experts to Greece, supported by members of the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to discuss the implementation of a promised budgetary savings plan.