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EU summit on Greece debt crisis opens

BRUSSELS : European leaders began two-day summit talks Thursday demanding debt-stricken Greece forge ahead with unpopul

Published June 23, 2011 Updated June 23, 2011 07:44pm

1 min

By Imad Uddin

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"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.

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