EU Rejects Multi-Billion Dollar Rescue Plan For Eastern Europe

[Joanne98]

European Union leaders have ruled out a multi-billion dollar rescue plan for Eastern Europe in the face of the global economic crisis, despite warnings from Hungary that the rejection could lead to an economic "iron curtain" across the continent. The announcement followed an emergency EU summit on Sunday at which officials debated ways to tackle Europe's biggest financial crisis in generations.

Ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany urged the European Union to show solidarity by establishing a support fund of about $240 billion to help failing economies in Eastern Europe. That was far more than the roughly $30 billion that international institutions agreed on Friday to make available.

Mr. Gyurcsany, whose country is among the hardest hit by the global economic crisis, said his plan could prevent the creation of a new "iron curtain" which, he warned, would "divide Europe" between rich and poor nations.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-01-voa20.cfm