Hollande in favor of extension but under conditions

After his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Rome, French President Francois Hollande once again expressed his support towards Greece.

Hollande stood in favor of giving a time extension to the government of Greece in order to achieve the targets set by the Troika under the loan agreement. "If the Troika report is positive, confirming that there is credibility, if more time is needed to implement the measures, we could develop a plan that will continue to keep Greece in the Eurozone."

Asked about the ECB’s next moves, the French President asserted that his position is that the decisions of the last European Council should be applied in full; that is, the Bank, "via mechanisms of stability, must be able to intervene quickly after a clear request by a member-state," in order to reduce the borrowing cost. "I completely agree," Monti added.

The meeting between the two leaders, which is a part of a series of consultations that began in mid-August in Europe, confirmed the common line between France and Italy in favor of the Monetary Union’s cohesion.

Hollande and Monti also discussed the upcoming developments at a European level as the critical ECB meeting is expected in the coming days, where decisions will be taken on the support measures for the indebted countries of southern Europe, particularly in view of September 12 and the anticipated decision of the German Constitutional Court on the ESM and the elections in the Netherlands.

They also talked about the next steps in the process for further integration of the Eurozone, such as the supervision of European banks and a firmer authority dealing with the budgets of member states of the Monetary Union.