Merkel rejects EU bail-out plan

01/03/2009 - 15:04:02
German Chancellor Angela Merkel today rejected calls for a multi-billion-euro bail-out plan for eastern European Union member states.

Mrs Merkel said the situation is very different in each EU country and aid should be handled on a case-by-case basis.

She rejected a one-size-fits-all bail-out of poor eastern members as unwise.

Mrs Merkel told reporters during today’s summit of EU leaders that “you cannot compare” the dire situation in Hungary with that in other countries.

Germany, the EU’s largest and richest economy, is under growing pressure to offer more help.

Eastern states, led by Hungary, are pushing for richer EU members to provide more financial aid to help them out of their economic troubles.