Eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels Tuesday, pleaded with Greece to stay on the path of austerity or risk even greater economic hardship. Jack Barton reports that the political gridlock in Athens overshadowed the meeting and caused stocks to tumble across Europe.

Eurozone finance ministers along with the head of the central bank arrive for what were once again crisis talks in Brussels. And again it was Greece at the eye of the storm - this time over its failure to form a government following inconclusive parliamentary elections.

Amid growing speculation that a new Greek government could renege on its bailout terms, EU officials reiterated their support for Athens.

Jean-Claude Juncker, Eurogroup President, said, "Our unshakeable desire is to maintain Greece within the Euro area. We will do everything possible to that effect. The exit of Greece out of the Euro was not the subject of our debate today".

Luxembourg Prime Minister and President of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker (R) speaks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti (L) and European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi (C) before the start of a meeting of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers at EU headquarters in Brussels. [AFP]

The words of support follow a week of political brinkmanship. Sony Kapoor, managing director of Re-Define, said, "Most of it is posturing, it's a game of chicken going on between political leaders in Greece and also of the Greek political class with the European leadership, and harsh words, irresponsible words are being traded but if the polls are to be believed then they make clear the vast majority of Greek people do not want Greece to leave the Euro".

But the markets remain convinced that Greece will undergo an involuntary default within the next two years. And that's not the only bad news ministers had to deal with here.

The EU statistics agency reported Monday that despite economic gains by Germany overall Eurozone industrial production fell by 0.3 percent in March. Eurostat is expected to announce on Tuesday that the Euro area is officially in recession.

And then there's Spain, where rising bond yields and bank troubles are increasing the likelihood that Madrid will need at least a limited rescue.

Jean-Claude Juncker, Eurogroup President, said, "We call on the Spanish authorities to speed up the external assessment of the situation in the banking sector and to take the necessary steps to put in place credible backstop mechanisms that can be used if needed. Indeed in the current circumstances speed is of the essence".

Eurozone finance ministers meet with their remaining EU counterparts on Tuesday to nail down new capital reserve requirement for banks in a bid to build a firewall around the EU's trouble finance sectors.

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