Minister Schwarzenberg: eurozone members should be able to leave monetary union

During talks in Brussels on Monday, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg expressed support for the idea that Eurozone members should have the chance to leave the monetary union at their own volition. He added however that he did not think the present economic crisis could be resolved by re-opening the Lisbon Treaty. In recent weeks there have been calls from some EU members for a change of the ground rules which would allow member states to leave the eurozone or even be expelled if they do not meet the universally adopted criteria. At the meeting the Czech Republic expressed support for the EU’s long-term budgetary plans, describing them as reasonable. Minister Schwarzenberg said that while he could understand calls for more drastic cuts he did not think such a concept was realistic.