On cue, Angela Merkel‘s Christian Democrat base in the Bundestag has warned that there can be no increase in the EU-IMF rescue package for Cyprus.

Finally we actually have someone in Portuguese politics who is saying something sensible about the euro. Portugal‘s financial situation is simply such that yes, of course it should default on its debts and if that means leaving the euro as well, or even the EU, then so be it:

Mario Soares, who steered the country to democracy after the Salazar dictatorship, said all political forces should unite to “bring down the government” and repudiate the austerity policies of the EU-IMF Troika.

PORTUGAL‘S leading elder statesman has called on the country to copy Argentina and default on its debt to avert economic collapse, a move that would lead to near-certain ejection from the euro.

„We take note of the proposal made by the co-chairs on fiscal objectives as a good basis for discussion,“ said the document, endorsed by EU finance ministers on Saturday and seen by Reuters

“On the EU the PM set out his approach to European reform, following on from his speech in January. They agreed on the urgent need to make Europe more competitive and flexible and talked about ways to achieve this.“

Downing St tight-lipped on how PM‘s plans to renegotiate Britain‘s future in Europe were received during visit to Germany

Italy‘s four-time Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday he would stand to lead the country for a fifth time if a snap vote is called after center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani again rejected forming a government with his rival.