Greece’s hour of need - We’ve a lot to do to avoid a similar fate

GREECE lost a considerable degree of sovereignty yesterday when prime minister George Papandreou sough an economic lifeline from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

He hoped the move will pull his country out of a crisis brought on by spiralling debt and simmering social unrest provoked by the terrible situation.

This represents an unprecedented test of the euro’s stability and European political cohesion. It may be the sternest test of European solidarity since the European Union was created so many years ago.