Advertisement

Germany calls Greek conspiracy remarks 'foul play', Commission mediating

By Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said it was seeking to maintain EU unity after Greece accused Spain and Portugal of conspiring against it, triggering complaints from Madrid and Lisbon and a charge of "foul play" from Berlin.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Spain and Portugal of leading a conservative conspiracy to topple his anti-austerity government because they feared the rise of the left in their own countries.

Spain and Portugal complained to the European Commission about the remarks. Germany, whose relations with Athens are strained over the Greek government's reluctance to reform, also weighed in against Tsipras's remarks.

"By European standards, this was very unusual foul play. We don't do that in the Eurogroup, that's not appropriate," a spokesman from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday during a regular press conference in Berlin.

Greece will run out of cash this month and needs new euro zone loans to avoid default. It can only get them if it implements reforms the previous Greek government promised, but which Tsipras has vowed to discontinue.

Countries that had to implement their own reforms, such as Ireland, Portugal and Spain, argue Greece should not get preferential treatment.

"The Portuguese government was a bit perplexed by the statements (by Tsipras)," Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said on Monday.

"It is a natural demand that we were demanding, as other governments were demanding, that the Greek government express, in a clear way, its willingness to meet the responsibilities taken on by Greece in the past," Coelho said.

"It cannot be considered, in any way, as an attempt to overthrow governments, or conspire against governments, whatsoever," he said.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy commented on Sunday that his country, which was struggling with its own financial problems, had lent billions of euros to help Greece and that it was not responsible "for the frustration generated by the radical Greek left that promised the Greeks something it couldn't deliver on."

The European Commission confirmed it had received complaints from Portugal and Spain.

"The complaint, including a request to comment, from the Spanish and Portuguese governments has been communicated to the Commission over the weekend and this is regarding the statement of Prime Minister Tsipras," a Commission spokeswoman told the daily news briefing.

"We are now in close contact with all actors involved ... in order to ensure there is unity among EU member states and especially among the EU states of the euro zone," she said.

(Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels, Michael Nienaber in Berlin and Axel Bugge in Lisbon; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop, Larry King)