Eurozone chief Dijsselbloem under pressure for comments

Published March 22, 2017

Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem. right, speaks with Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson during a meeting of EU finance ministers at the Europa building in Brussels on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

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Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem waits for the start of a meeting of EU finance ministers at the Europa building in Brussels on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem. second right, greets Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson, right, during a meeting of EU finance ministers at the Europa building in Brussels on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

Eurozone chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem is coming under increasing pressure for what many see as derogatory comments about debt-ridden nations that have sought outside help to emerge from financial crisis.

Dijsselbloem referred to crisis countries in an interview Friday with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and said that "I cannot spend all my money on liquor and women and then ask for your support."

Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva says the comments were "absolutely deplorable, unbelievable" and says they showed "deep contempt for the huge effort we all made to overcome" the debt crisis.

The leaders of the European Parliament's two biggest groups, the EPP Christian Democrats and the S&D Socialists, also have criticized Dijsselbloem.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/eurozone-chief-dijsselbloem-under-pressure-for-comments