Like an unseasonal Atlantic gale, the Portuguese sovereign debt crisis has blown in to
ruin the latest EU summit. This meeting was intended to mark the beginning of the end of the eurozone crisis. Instead, the ponderous European Union has been overtaken by events, with grave
consequences.
Already speculation about contagion is rife: Spain, Malta* and Italy are now being spoken of in hushed and exasperated tones. The Economist’s Charlemagne correspondent reports that several countries are now wary of the monetary pact that Germany is demanding for delving deeper into its pockets, because they do not want to be accused of surrendering sovereignty. Likewise, the injection into the European Financial Stability Facility has been postponed until June because Finland does not want to commit before its imminent general election.
Most of all, Portugal’s crisis intensifies Ireland’s desperation.
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