Sentraleuropeiske land ønsket at EU skulle opprette et fond på € 190 millioner for å avverge økonomisk kollaps, men fikk nei. Stemningen på toppmøtet var uggen. Ungarns statsminister sa Vest-Europa risikerer at det kommer fem millioner arbeidsløse på døren.

The spectacular collapse of some of the post-communist tiger economies led to demands at an EU summit in Brussels for a rescue fund of €190 billion (£170 billion) to stop social collapse in the Eastern nations spilling over into the rest of Europe.

The plea, led by Hungary, was rejected in a bad-tempered meeting of the 27 European leaders, dominated by fears that Western EU countries would rather prop up their own large industries and jobs at the expense of the East.
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Ferenc Gyurcsany, the Hungarian leader, openly raised the spectre of collapse in Eastern Europe and the creation of a new Iron Curtain.

«Central Europe’s refinancing needs in 2009 could total €300 billion, 30 per cent of the region’s GDP,» he said in a paper calling for a fund of €160 billion to €190 billion to be set up by the richer EU members.

«A significant crisis in Eastern Europe would trigger political tensions and immigration pressures. With a Central and Eastern European population of 350 million, of which 100 million are in the EU, a 10 per cent increase in unemployment would lead to at least five million unemployed people within the EU.»

New ‘Iron Curtain’ will split EU’s rich and poor