Greek premier criticizes EU stand on Greece's economic crisis

ATHENS, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou expressed disappointment up to a degree on Friday at the European Union's standing regarding the Greek economic crisis.

"The EU did grant us political backing and supported our Stability and Growth Program, but in the battle concerning the markets' psychology EU partners proved lacking boldness," Papandreou said, addressing a cabinet meeting after his return from the latest Brussels summit on economy on Thursday.

The Greek leader noted that during these past few months, there were many different voices heard inside the EU, suggestions that created a climate that Greece is about to collapse. He stressed that there was a lack of coordination between different EU organizations and agencies, the EU Commission, state members and the European Central Bank.

"But above all there has been a big effort inside the EU to hide their responsibilities behind Greece. The responsibilities of the EU, the EU Commission, the Eurostat to be on alert and warn the previous Greek government that they were heading towards the wrong way," Papandreou said.

"This way the prestige of European institutions was undermined in the international market. In an unprecedented phenomenon for the eurozone, Greece became a guinea-pig in a fight among Europe and international markets," he added.

Commenting on Thursday's result, the Greek premier stressed that decisions made were important, but the battle is not over.

"What is tested today is EU's credibility also. Greece will be regarded as a source of all troubles, if we won't implement our program. Greece is not a political or economic superpower to give the battle alone. We will move on to the necessary changes, but big reforms need time to show concrete results," Papandreou said, underlining that it is up to Greeks to reach Ithaca in this Odyssey.

Expressing hope that Greece will succeed, Papandreou noted that Greek people feel bad because in just a few years time Greece which gained high remarks for hosting successful Olympic Games in 2004 ended up as a negative news story in financial terms all over the world.

Only a few hours before Papandreou's speech, Greece's National Statistic Agency released the latest data on the shrinking of Greek economy in 2009.

Greece's national economy shrank by two percent during 2009 and2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, when the crisis became more apparent, according to the report.

In 2008 the Greek Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown by two percent.

For 2010 the Greek government estimates that the GDP will drop by 0.3 percent and upon this estimation are based the estimations on public revenues and the reduction of the budget deficit.