Merkel says optimistic on Greek crisis resolution

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday she was optimistic the European Union would manage to resolve the Greek sovereign debt crisis but said Athens must press ahead with more austerity measures.
Speaking in Warsaw hours before Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's cabinet faces a confidence vote in parliament, Merkel also reaffirmed Berlin's view that private investors should take part in any bailout of Greece.
"We believe some burdens can be put not only on taxpayers but that banks must also participate (in the rescue). I am optimistic that we will achieve positive results because it is in the interests of banks and of countries for the euro currency to be stable," Merkel told a news conference. "Greece's competitiveness must be increased, Greece's debt has to be reduced, Greece's government must make the right decisions in parliament," she said, speaking through an interpreter, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk by her side.
Tuesday's vote in the Greek parliament follows a euro zone ultimatum that Athens must approve a new five-year package of tough economic reforms in two weeks or lose a 12-bln-euro aid tranche it needs to avoid bankruptcy.
"These three components — Greece's tasks, EU solidarity and the voluntary participation of banks — are the solution. I am optimistic we will successfully take this path," said Merkel.
"This is not about one country, it is about the whole euro zone."
Merkel was in Warsaw for a joint session of the German and Polish cabinets to mark the 20th anniversary of a friendship treaty between the two countries.
Poland, which is not in the euro zone, assumes the EU's rotating presidency on July 1 and will chair the bloc's ministerial meetings in the second half of this year.
Tusk, whose centre-right government wants Poland to swap its zloty currency for euros later in the decade, said it was in Warsaw's interests to support efforts to resolve the crisis.
"I advise everyone to keep their fingers crossed for Europe because it's also our Polish interest," he said.