Merkel says EU summit should not focus on Greece

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday (March 21st) that she does not believe Greece’s financial crisis should be the focus of the EU summit that starts Thursday in Brussels.  Merkel said Greece faces no “looming insolvency”, adding that Athens has said it faces no “acute financial needs from the European community”.

Merkel also discussed Turkey in the interview, saying that Germany will offer the country alternatives to full-fledged EU membership when she visits Ankara next week. “We should rather aim for a privileged partnership, in other words a very close affiliation of Turkey to the EU,” Merkel said. Ankara has rejected the notion in the past.