Italian prime minister Mario Monti warns euro currency could face breakup

Aug. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- AKI) - Italian prime minister Mario Monti on Friday warned that the euro currency could be a factor in the breakup of Europe, rather than drawing it closer together.

Taken together with a worsening outlook for the eurozone's most vulnerable economies in a Reuters poll published last week, there appears little expectation for an end to the euro crisis or any prospects for a meaningful economic rebound.

Adding to the deeper concerns, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said in the Daily Telegraph published today (17 August) that European leaders must prepare for the looming breakup of the eurozone.


"The euro was to be the culmination of European integration, but it risks becoming a factor of disintegration," Monti said, in Finland before heading off to Spain, amid a three-country tour to in an effort to shore up the 17-member currency union.
Monti was appointed premier in November after Silvio Berlusconi resigned amid a deepening debt crisis that threatened to put an end to the euro.
He is trying to gather support for an effort to defend the currency against speculation as increasing borrowing costs threaten to derail the monetary alliance. His efforts come on the heels of last week's pledges by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to defend the euro against speculation.