Spaanse premier gelooft in samenhorigheid eurozone (en)

The President of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, at the end of a press conference which he gave on 5.5.2010 at the Palacio de la Moncloa. EFE

The President of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, said he believed that all euro countries would “stand firm” in defence of the single currency on Friday 7 May in Brussels at the meeting of heads of state and government, which has been called in order to approve the rescue package for Greece.

The heads of state and government of the euro area will hold an extraordinary summit to follow up on the parliamentary processes that several countries must complete before they can give the green light to up to €110 billion in loans to the Greek Government for the 2010-2012 period.

The leaders will take advantage of the occasion to discuss new rules for increasing coordination in economic policy within the euro area, following the financial aid package for Greece, the first of its kind in the history of the euro.

Speaking at a press conference at the Moncloa presidential residence in Madrid on Wednesday, Zapatero also branded rumours about the weakness of the Spanish economy as "ridiculous" and rejected any financial speculation.

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy i, meanwhile, condemned the “groundless rumours” about Spain and Portugal, which had provoked “totally irrational movements” in the markets.

“I want to say very clearly that the situation in these countries is nothing at all like the situation in Greece”, which stemmed from a combination of three factors: insufficiently credible statistics, a serious problem with competitiveness and a very high level of debt, Van Rompuy said following a summit meeting with Canada on Wednesday.

He added that “once the markets are convinced of the strength of the effort we are making for Greece then they will stop focusing on any other country; it's true that a certain amount of time will be needed before the extent of these efforts becomes fully clear, but this will happen, and when it does the contagion effect will come to a halt".