Prime minister Mark Rutte ‘stoked fears’ that the collapse of the euro could become a reality by saying some countries could be pushed out, the Guardian reports on Wednesday.

Rutte made the comments on the second day of a two-day visit to Britain. ‘We would like countries to be able to be pushed out of the eurozone,’ Rutte said, adding that member countries must ‘put out the fire’ of the debt crisis.
Earlier this year, the Netherlands called for expulsion as a last resort for countries which do not get their economies in order. The cabinet has also called for the appointment of a special EU commissioner to ensure budgetary discipline.
One analyst told the Guardian that Tuesday was the most worrying day yet in the euro crisis. ‘Even the Netherlands, which the market perceives to be the second strongest eurozone sovereign, is coming under a bit of pressure,’ Mike Riddel of M&G’s international sovereign bond fund is quoted as saying.
Yesterday, new macro-economic figures showed the Dutch economy is on the verge of a recession, after contracting 0.3% in the third quarter.
Finance minister Jan Kees de Jager said the new figures are ‘worrying’ but that he is sure the government is on the right track. ‘Everyone will now see that cuts are necessary,’ De Jager told television programme RTLZ.