Von Rompuy: 'Ridiculous' to equate Italy, Spain with Greece

It is ridiculous to lump Spain and Greece in the same basket as Greece, European Union President Herman Van Rompuy said as the two came under renewed market pressure on Tuesday. "We cannot underline enough that the situation in Greece is unique and is not comparable to those in other eurozone countries," Von Rompuy wrote in a commentary published in Le Monde newspaper. Long-term borrowing prices for Italy and Spain have sky-rocketed in recent weeks to levels widely considerd to be unsustainable for a eurozone country. "Current evaluations of risk on the markets do not correspond at all to fundamentals and it is ridiculous that ... these countries are considered the most likely to default on loan obligations," said Von Rompuy. It was "important to remember" that current problems were not strictly a euro crisis, but that "all developed countries" face growing public debt problems, he added.