Romania was saved by the Greeks' money, but who will save them?

Greece, like Romania over a decade ago, is advised to announce a default on its payments by the most powerful members of the euro zone. Ironically enough, in 1997 Romania managed to avoid a default thanks to the money received from the privatisation of national fixed telephony operator, sold to Greece-based OTE.

“I remember that time as being extremely tense, with people anxiously waiting for the money from Romtelecom’s privatisation to come in throughout 1997, when all rating agencies were forecasting Romania would default on its payments,” remembers Ion Nestor, one of the most respected lawyers in Romania.

Romania was saved by money from Athens over a decade ago, but who will save the Greeks now?

Greece should accept the need to default on its payments, which could serve as an example to the other ailing countries, said Thilo Sarrazin, a member of the managing board of Germany’s central bank, cited by Les Echos.

However, there are also optimists, who believe Greece can decide on its own what the best solution is.

“There is general confusion,” Daniel Gros, director of the centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “Maybe politicians from France and Germany should stay silent a bit. Greece is a sovereign country and will do what it wants to.”