Greek life support a mistake
The decision by a meeting of Europe’s finance ministers to grant further financial aid to Greece has been greeted with scepticism in Prague. According to Hospodářské noviny, the European “initiative to keep the Greek economy alive is futile.” Experts interviewed by the daily affirm that in a best case scenario, Greece’s national debt is set to grow from its current level of 115% GDP to 150% of GDP by 2014, the year in which Athens has pledged to achieve full compliance with euro convergence criteria. In short, it is clear that "coordinated aid has saved Greece from bankruptcy, but it has failed to convince the markets that there is no further risk to sovereign debt." At the same Ecofin meeting, the daily notes that Slovakia also confirmed that it would refuse to contribute to the euro stabilisation mechanism.
Since Portugal has been subjected to an austerity regimen by the EU/ECB/IMF troika, Portuguese consumers have adapted their habits. The crisis is pushing consumers to save but also to be more creative. 
The European Commission and its civil servants gained unprecedented powers with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty on February 7 1992. Two decades later, the economy’s primacy over politics and the advent of the crisis has destroyed their dreams and turned them into scapegoats. 
“Hitler”, “Occupying Power" – it’s always the same. Berlin is asserting its stance on the euro crisis and, in turn, is being abused with comparisons to the Nazis. Die Zeit ponders how Germans should respond.