German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that Greece does not need any financial help and that EU leaders should not make aid an issue at their summit in Brussels next week. Merkel's comments come after the European Commission urged Germany and other eurozone governments to put up a package of government-to-government loans to ease Greece's financial plight and end weeks of financial turmoil and speculation. The chancellor warned against discussions of possible EU bailout plans at the Thursday summit, saying it would only cause turbulence in the markets by raising false expectations. “Aid is not on the agenda on Thursday,” Merkel told Deutschlandfunk radio. She added that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told her several times that his country would not demand financial support from the EU. “And therefore I advise all of us to not cause turbulence on the markets, by raising the wrong expectations for the summit on Thursday,” she said. She did not refer specifically to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's comments. Barroso said Friday that European aid is necessary because “we cannot prolong any further the current situation.” He spoke of “coordinated bilateral loans” that would not have to be paid out immediately. Even as a standby gesture, Barroso said, the availability of aid from Greece's partners would show financial markets that EU nations are united to defend their single currency and the stability of the eurozone, the area of 16 EU nations that share the euro as their currency. EU sources have estimated that Greece needs a financial injection of about ¤20 billion ($27.1 billion).
