Finance minister Jan Kees de Jager partly blames Germany and France for Europe’s debt crisis because they ran larger than permitted budget deficits in the early 2000s, news agency AP reports.

De Jager is quoted as saying that when the two largest countries in the eurozone ran deficits of over 3% in 2003 and 2004 without any action being taken it ‘opened the flood gates for other countries’ to break the rules, ultimately leading to the current crisis.
De Jager also said at the press conference for foreign journalists in the Netherlands the country will continue to support the new bail-out for Greece even though it might not work.