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Austrian Chancellor opposed to expelling EU members

18 August 2012 01:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Friday said he was opposed to the expulsion of member states from the European Union (EU), APA reports quoting Xinhua.

His stance is contrary to that of Vice-Chancellor Michael Spindelegger, who said earlier on Friday that he was in favor of amending the EU constitution to allow for potential expulsion as a last resort.

"I cannot recommend expulsion," Faymann stated in a press release, adding that many EU member states had already implemented measures to stabilize and secure the monetary union.

If the EU were to fail to aid any such nation, they would "de facto" be forced to leave the bloc, he said.

"Bankruptcy for a European country would have immeasurable consequences for all of Europe, including Austria, and is not in our interests," Faymann stated.

He said there should be further cooperative measures to stabilize the eurozone, including increased bank supervision and transparency as well as further regulation of financial markets.