Sarkozy: Greece's failure to pull down Europe

PARIS - If Greece falls down in current financial crisis, Europe will fail as well, French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Friday.

"The failure of Greece would be the failure of the whole Europe. There is no other credible alternative," Sarkozy said in a statement issued after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou at the Elysee Palace.

Papandreou didn't make public statement following the meeting, but according to the statement, he reiterated determination of Greek government to faithfully implement all the commitments and meanwhile welcomed other EU members to check their "step-by-step" implementation with regard to transparency.

Addressing French people, Sarkozy underlined the "morale obligation" and economic necessity in devoting to save Greece. "It is not possible to let Greece fall for economic reasons and for moral reasons," Sarkozy said, recalling the 2008 global financial crisis in the wake of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

"I will be in Germany in the coming days to continue with Chancellor Merkel the collaborative and coordination work between Germany and France, which has ensured the protection of Europe," the French president said.

The German parliament has approved the expanded European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) on Thursday following the suit of France, Belgium and most eurozone members, an important step for the EU bailout fund to pass all hurdles in the 17-member eurozone bloc.

To Sarkozy, the Germany-France axis can form "a perfect identity of view to resist the speculation, to resist the excitement of the markets and to protect Europe."

Eurozone leader have agreed on July 21 to grant more power to the 440-billion-euro EU bailout fund and meanwhile demanded stricter fiscal discipline to overspending eurozone members.

Financial market recently showed apparent instability on concerns of slow political coordination and less-than-expected reforms in debt-ridden countries.

Also on Friday, Austria's parliament passed the ESFS vote with a clear majority.

So far, Malta, the Netherlands and Slovakia are the only three remaining states yet to vote on the expanded fund. However Slovakia, one of the poorest in the 17-member bloc, is likely to be the biggest uncertainty due to significant division in its ruling party.