LEONARD ORBAN: Greece's exit from the Eurozone will be on the table of the European Council on May 23rd

The Minister of European Affairs, Leonard Orban, yesterday said that the option of Greece's exit from the Eurozone will be placed on the table of the European Council for the first time, at the informal reunion scheduled for May 23rd, in Brussels.

The political message is that the Greek state needs to be helped to stay in the Eurozone, but an increasing number of European officials are considering the outcome of a controlled exit from the Eurozone, he said, at a meeting of the Romanian-British Chamber of Commerce. The Minister mentioned that he does not expect a decision, but rather a consolidation of the opinions on the manner in which the situation of Greece needs to be dealt with.

The consequences of the return to the drachma, which has become an option, are hard to anticipate, but there are estimates that the living standard of the Greeks would fall "overnight", by 40%, or even by as much as 75%, according to Leonard Orban. He warned against the risk of the rise of extremist political factions, which are already present in the Greek parliament, following the recent elections.

For Romania, either of the manners of Greece's exit from the Eurozone would only have negative effects, the minister of European Affairs considers, who said that the National Bank of Romania is very cautious, taking steps towards protecting the leu against the developments in Greece. "It is obvious that we will be affected, not just because of the Greek banks which own an important share of the banking system, but also indirectly, because we are located in the same region as Greece", he said. Romania is already facing difficulties because of the drop in direct foreign investments over the last few years, and one consequence of the Greek exit from the Eurozone would be the damaging of the image of the region, which investors are already concerned over, said Leonard Orban. Under these circumstances, the Romanian authorities need to be cautious when it comes to the ratios of the state budget, he said.