German Chancellor Angela Merkel is resisting calls to ease Ireland’s bailout terms, underscoring the gulf on crisis-fighting steps that persists even among political allies.
Merkel and incoming Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who was elected on a platform of renegotiating the bailout, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Union President Herman Van Rompuy are among those scheduled to attend a meeting of European People’s Party leaders in Helsinki today. Their host is Finnish Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen, who has signaled he opposes lowering Ireland’s average loan rate of 5.8 percent.
