Germany and the Netherlands refused Sunday to throw a lifeline to eastern European countries who seek a quick entry to the euro currency, according to AP. Poland and Hungary _ two of the largest would-be euro members _ have suggested that the European Union should reduce the two-year waiting period required before they could join the euro. Both countries have seen their currencies plummet during the recent financial crisis as investors fled the region for 'safe havens' such as the stronger euro area. The euro currency has remained strong against the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen, despite the global crisis. Euro-zone founding members are reluctant to touch the strict rules that underpin their shared currency _ even though many euro-zone countries aren't sticking to EU limits on debt and budget deficits. After Sunday's EU summit, Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both rejected a «softening» of euro membership criteria that would allow weaker economies to join and possibly damage the strength of the currency. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was more open to looking at a rule change _ but not now, during the current economic crisis. The global economic slump has knocked the legs from under once-booming east European economies. Cheap credit has dried up killing exports. Eastern European nations are looking for a whisper of support from euro members to reassure currency traders and investors worried that exchange rates will continue to slide. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Bulgaria already peg their currencies to the euro, which forces them to spend central bank reserves to stay close to the allowed rate. Rapid devaluation also can worsen problems by reducing the value of investments in those countries and making foreign currency loans harder to repay _ a major problem in Hungary where such loans were common for house buyers. On Sunday, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said his and other eastern EU countries may need as much as ¤300 billion ($380 billion) in aid _ 30 percent of the region's gross domestic product _ in 2009. Other nations don't see the same pressing problems. Both Poland and the Czech Republic want to distance themselves from Hungary's problems _ high debt and a shrinking economy _ and are in a better position to survive the global crisis. These splits were obvious at the Sunday summit where eastern Europeans failed to back Hungary, insisting that any EU rescue aid should be for individual nations, not an entire region. Germany _ the EU's paymaster _ and austerity-minded allies such as the Netherlands _ say they aren't insensitive, but they argue that bringing underperformers into the euro-zone will make a mockery out of the currency's low inflation, deficit and debt criteria. «It hurts when an economy collapses,» Balkenende of the Netherlands said Sunday after the EU leaders discussed the impact of the recession. He said the World Bank and the EU's own European Investment Bank «can do much for these (eastern) countries.» It cannot be that a country's dire economic plight «is suddenly a reason (to let it join) the euro. If a nation wants to join the euro, it must meet the criteria. It was always so. It should stay so,» he added. Merkel, too, opposed a «softening» of the euro criteria. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, the summit chairman, said «there was broad agreement it would be an error to change the rules of the game now.»
