EUROZONE-GREECE/SPAIN-RAJOY Spain 'at ease' over Greek crisis: PM Rajoy

Record ID: 148936

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/SPAIN-RAJOY Spain 'at ease' over Greek crisis: PM Rajoy
  • Date: 29th June 2015
  • Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (JUNE 29, 2015) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2196JGKID7PGQJ803Y6HNNBVL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CORRECTING RESTRICTION FOR SHOT 13.
    Spain's Prime Minister moved to reassure his citizens on Monday (June 29) that their economy was prepared to cope with potential contagion from the Greek debt crisis.
    Mariano Rajoy spoke after talks with the French opposition leader and former president Nicolas Sarkozy in the Spanish capital.
    "Spaniards can be at ease. They can be at ease because, among other reasons, Spaniards have over recent years, with their effort, dedication, work and understanding, supported the reforms that have allowed us to be at ease in Spain at this time," Rajoy told a news conference in Madrid.
    Greeks struggled to adjust to shuttered banks, closed cash machines and a climate of rumours and conspiracy theories on Monday as a breakdown in talks between Athens and its creditors plunged the country deep into crisis.
    Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has surprised creditors by calling a referendum on the austerity cuts in the aid package proposed by the creditors.
    He appeared on television on Sunday night (June 29) to announce capital controls to prevent banks from collapsing.
    Their imposition capped a dramatic weekend for Greece that has pushed the country towards a likely default on 1.6 billion euros ($1.77 billion) of International Monetary Fund loans on Tuesday (June 30) and closer to an exit from the euro currency bloc.
    After months of talks, Greece's exasperated European partners have put the blame for the crisis squarely on Tsipras's shoulders.
    Rajoy, whose country has returned to economic growth after a long downturn, said Europe was supportive of Greece and wants it to remain in the EU. But he said it was essential that Athens fulfills its commitments.
    "Europe has had a lot of solidarity with Greece and wants to continue to do so, but Greece has to follow the rules. It can't be that the euro group made up of 19 countries has 18 that follow the rules and one that does not, one that needs to get a loan over 30 years without fulfilling its commitments. No organisation can work like that, not the European Union, not a state, not a business, not a company, not a family, nobody," said Rajoy.
    With Greece's bailout programme due to expire at midnight on Tuesday, Sarkozy said that the credibility of the the euro zone was at stake.
    "The question today is, if the euro group gives in to Tsipras's blackmail, what will remain of euro group's credibility? The question is not how to rescue Greece from the Tsipras sinking, but how to protect the credibility of the euro group," said Sarkozy.
    European bank shares fell sharply on Monday. Top banks in Spain, France and Germany were down more than 6 percent as the risk of a spillover to banks in other peripheral euro zone countries spooked investors.
    The Greek government will keep banks shut at least until after July 5, the date of the referendum, and withdrawals from automated teller machines were limited to 60 euros a day when they reopened at midday. The stock exchange will also stay shut.
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