Greece crisis 'made worse by EU'

A lack of leadership within the EU made things worse by failing to calm market fears the country might default on its massive debt load, the Greek deputy prime minister said yesterday.

Theodoros Pangalos said EU leaders were "not up to the scale of the task".

He spoke as officials from the EU and the International Monetary Fund arrived in Athens to examine Greece's public finances. The EU has given Athens a March 16 deadline to show improvements in its budget or face tougher spending cuts.

"I'm of the opinion that today's Europe has no political leadership," he said.

Asked about the financial crisis, he added: "The people who are managing the fortunes of Europe were not up to the task."

"I believe if Delors was in change in Europe, Mitterrand in France and Kohl in Germany ... things would not be the same," he said, referring to former EU Commission President Jacques Delors, late President Francois Mitterrand, and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Greece's Socialist government has promised to take tougher measures if needed to meet its target for reducing the budget deficit from a projected 12.7 per cent last year to 8.7 per cent in 2010 – despite mounting opposition from labour unions, which are planning a general strike.

Union protests have already caused fuel shortages. Supply problems

eased after customs officials called off a strike in the wake of a court decision declaring their protest illegal.