Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Sunday sought French support after Athens adopted new austerity measures to steer the debt-crippled country away from financial ruin. Following talks in Berlin, Papandreou travelled to Paris where he could expect a sympathetic ear from President Nicolas Sarkozy who has asserted that Greece's eurozone partners had no choice but to support Athens.
"We cannot allow a country in the eurozone to fall," Sarkozy said Saturday on the eve of the Elysee meeting with Papandreou, the second round of talks between the leaders on the Greek debt crisis in less than a month.
"If we do not support Greece - because it is making efforts - then it wasn't worth introducing the euro," Sarkozy said. Papandreou was to meet Sarkozy at 1700 GMT and a joint news conference was scheduled to be held after the talks.
After Paris, Papandreou flies to Washington on Tuesday to seek backing from US President Barack Obama.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other EU leaders have so far been reluctant to consider a bailout for Greece, which desperately needs to come up with 20 billion euros (27 billion dollars) by May to refinance debt. Overall, Greece is looking at borrowing more than 50 billion euros this year. On Friday, the Greek parliament approved a third round of austerity measures to rein in state spending, triggering violent protests and clashes with police in Athens.