António Costa: “If De Guindos is available, he has our support”
The Portuguese prime minister has once again repeated the accusations against the Eurogroup president. He also stated he would support Luis De Guindos if he wants to replace Dijsselbloem.
António Costa has once again commented on the Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem and his statements concerning southern countries, stating it is “only a matter of time” before he resigns from his position. In an interview to the Spanish newspaper El País, Costa advocated for the need to “reinforce the euro and the single monetary policy” and said Luis De Guindos, the Spanish Economy minister, would be a good replacement for the presidency of the Group.
De Guindos “has a global vision of Europe; he has the ability to connect different economies, different political families; he comes from a large country, yet he understands small countries; he comes from the third economy with the largest growth, yet he knows about past sacrifices… If De Guindos is avaiable, he will have our support“, the Portuguese PM explained.
Tweet from @el_pais
As usual, the Portuguese governance model was brought up for discussion: António Costa stated the parliamentary coalition between his Socialist Party (PS) , the Left Block (BE) and the Communist Party (PCP) was only possible because “the left wing parties understood they were able to maintain their distinctive identity”, which is what justifies the success of the model. When asked if a similar solution could be pursued in Spain, he stated he did not dare to say yes, because “every country is different”.
