Berlin - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Tuesday warned against “irresponsible solutions” to Cyprus' debt crisis and regretted that the Cypriot parliament rejected a bailout that included an unprecedented bank deposit levy.
“We acknowledge and regret the decision.... For a rescue plan to exist we need a credible way to know how Cyprus will regain access to financial markets,” said Schaeuble in a television interview.
“For now the debt is too high ... it must be reduced.”
Schaeuble warned against “irresponsible solutions” to the island nation's “serious” debt crisis after MPs rejected the terms of the bailout, decrying as “blackmail” a deal reached with a troika of lenders on Saturday that now lies in tatters.
“The situation is serious but this must not lead us to take decisions that make no sense,” he told public ZDF television without elaborating.
While expressing his sympathy for Cypriot demonstrators adamantly opposed to the bailout deal, Schaeuble said this did not mean that “irrational, irresponsible decisions” should be taken. - Sapa-AFP