U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Europe to Resolve Euro Crisis
NYTimes excerpt
Mr. Obama discussed the recent developments in Europe in video conference calls with the European leaders on Wednesday. Mr. Obama was following up on discussions he held at the recent Group of 8 meeting at Camp David with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the French president, François Hollande and Mario Monti, the Italian prime minister.
“Leaders agreed to continue to consult closely as they prepare to meet at the G-20 summit in Mexico next month,” the White House said in a statement. The meeting will be held June 18-19, beginning just a day after a Greek election that is being seen as a de facto referendum on that country’s euro membership.
The White House has also dispatched Lael Brainard, a Treasury under secretary, to Europe this week for talks with officials in Greece, Germany, Spain and France.
“The U.S. has doubts about its own pace of growth, it sees China slowing, and Europe is confronting a recession,” Hervé Goulletquer, head of fixed-income market research at Crédit Agricole, said. “If there is a deeper crisis in Europe, it will be an impediment for growth in the U.S., it will be a big issue for the country and for Obama as a candidate.”