The Netherlands will not support giving financial help to Greece on either an EU-wide or individual country basis, finance minister Wouter Bos told parliament on Thursday.
Bos, who was responding to MPs’ concerns, pointed out Greece has not asked for a bail-out. Greece, he said, is responsible for solving its own financial problems and will have to take extra steps to deal with them.
Earlier a majority of MPs called on the government not to get involved in efforts to bail out the Greek economy, news agency ANP reports.
EU president Herman Van Rompuy said earlier that leaders have reached a deal on helping Greece tackle its debt crisis. According to the BBC, all 27 EU leaders are now set to discuss it.
Concerns
But VVD MP Frans Weekers said the Greeks had only themselves to blame for the problems because they have given misleading information about the country’s financial situation for years. ‘This is the market’s punishment,’ he said.
MPs from the ruling Labour party (PvdA) said they would support a loan from the IMF under strict conditions. PvdA MP Paul Tang pointed out that EU stability pact rules require every country to sort out their own problems.
Greece’s budget deficit is 12.7%, more than four times higher than EU rules allow.
