Greece must give up part of its sovereignty, German official says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Greece is near bankruptcy and must give up part of its sovereignty to obtain the large debt forgiveness it needs to survive, a leading conservative member of German parliament was quoted as saying.

Michael Fuchs, a deputy parliamentary floor leader for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), also told Greek newspaper "Real News" that the debt-laden country might be better off outside the euro zone.

"You are very close to bankruptcy," Real News quoted Fuchs as saying in an interview. "We can not agree to a 'haircut' without terms and conditions and therefore, Greece must give up something, like some of its national sovereignty - at least temporarily," added Fuchs, who is also the chair of the influential CDU small business group in parliament.

"I am personally not absolutely convinced that this (euro zone membership) is the best long-term solution for Greece to become quickly competitive," he added.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Oct. 17-18 to discuss revising a July 21deal to provide Greece with a second rescue package. They may ask investors to accept losses on their holdings of Greek debt even larger than the 21 percent write-down set out in the July deal.

Fuchs had said that Greece may require a haircut of at least 50 percent, Reuters reported.