German Chancellor Angela Merkel in an address to her Christian Democrat party said the euro zone rescue fund will not hold up if Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio stays as high as it is and she urged Spain to redouble reform efforts to cut debt levels.
SOUNDBITE:German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying (German):
"Spain has done a lot in the last few years. I don't want to criticize Spain here. I just want to say they had to do a lot and they will probably have to do a lot more to win back the confidence that the accumulated debt will be paid back,"
She also focused on Greece in her address in Braunschweig.
SOUNDBITE:German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying (German):
"Yes, with Greece we will have to get to the stage where also the private creditors have to make a contribution."
Merkel also stressed that the other euro zone countries have to be protected.
SOUNDBITE:German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying (German):
"It must also be clear that a country which is experiencing this process is looked after a bit from the outside, privatization is put into international hands, the troika is perhaps always there, permanently, and looks at and supervises the laws because otherwise there can be no trust and because otherwise everyone else could say "I would like that too.,"
Merkel later headed to Brussels ahead of Sunday's EU leaders' summit where the euro crisis will be in focus.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
