EU summit on Greece debt crisis opens

BRUSSELS: European leaders began two-day summit talks Thursday demanding debt-stricken Greece forge ahead with unpopular austerity measures to prevent the euro crisis rocking the global economy.

"There is no Plan B, Greece has to do what needs to be done," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of finance ministers, on arriving for the talks.

With markets and global partners watching intently, leaders were under pressure to issue a joint declaration indicating willingness to offer indebted Greece fresh financial aid -- a second bailout in just over a year.

But they said this could only come on condition the parliament in Athens approves 28 billion euros of spending cuts and 50 billion of state sell-offs in a crucial vote on Tuesday.

Prime Minister George Papandreou threw the ball back at his partners on arrival.

"I believe that if there's a strong commitment from the European Union, there will be a strong commitment from Greece at the same time," the Greek premier said.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011