Portugal asks for the resignation of the Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem
The minister of Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva requested in Washington the resignation of the Eurogroup President, who stated southern European countries blew their money on “drinks and women”.
During the crisis of the euro, the countries of the North have shown solidarity with the countries affected by the crisis. As a Social Democrat, I attribute exceptional importance to solidarity. But you also have obligations. You cannot spend all the money on drinks and women and then ask for help.
The Portuguese minister of Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva requested the resignation of the Eurogroup President, who stated that southern European countries could not waste all their money on “drinks and women”.
“Today, in the European Parliament, it is of the understanding of many people that the Eurogroup President is not able to continue being the head of the Eurogroup and the Portuguese Government shares that opinion“, the minister stated.
In an interview to the German newspaper Allgemeine Zeitung, published this Sunday, Jeroen Djisselbloem stated: “As a Social Democrat, I attribute exceptional importance to solidarity. But you also have obligations. You cannot spend all the money on drinks and women and then ask for help”.
Augusto Santos Silva considered those were “very unfortunate statements and, from a Portuguese viewpoint, absolutely unacceptable“.
“There is, on the one hand, a humorous aspect in the situation, since his statements use terms that are now inconceivable; the idea that people are spending money on wine and women is an expression which is definitely not appropriate for an European Finance minister“, Santos Silva explained.
