France has said Greece should be given more time to meet the terms of its international bailout, in the clearest call to date by a leading eurozone country for an easing of the stringent conditions attached to the €174bn rescue package.
Jean-Marc Ayrault, the prime minister, taking a clear swipe at those in Germany insisting on a hard line against Athens, warned that a Greek exit from the eurozone would be “unmanageable” and could be “the beginning of the end of the European project”.
Mr Ayrault told the French news website Mediapart: “We can already offer [Greece] more time . . . on condition that Greece is sincere in its commitment to reform, especially tax reform.”