Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem has expressed "regret" over his comments that southern European countries blew their money on "drinks and women" but rejected calls to resign.
Dijsselbloem faced a firestorm with Portugal's prime minister and former Italian premier Matteo Renzi calling for his immediate departure, and the head of the European Parliament condemning the "racist and sexist" remarks.
"I regret it if anyone is offended by the remark. It was direct, and can be explained from strict Dutch, Calvinistic culture, with Dutch directness," Dijsselbloem said yesterday in a statement to AFP.
Monday's gaffe by Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, and the resulting backlash exposed simmering north-south tensions within the European Union's single currency zone.
"If Europe were serious, Dijsselbloem would be already sacked," said Portuguese premier Antonio Costa at an event in Portugal.
"It is unacceptable that someone who behaves ... With such a racist, xenophobic and sexist attitude towards some European countries remain as head of the Eurogroup," the socialist Costa said.
"The sooner he goes the better," Italy's Renzi said in a post on his Facebook page that reflected criticism from across the EU's so-called Club Med group of countries.
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who is also from Italy, said the remarks were "unacceptable."
"To say these racist and sexist comments is wrong, for me it's unacceptable, especially when one has an important role to play," he told AFP in an interview in Brussels.
But Dijsselbloem, already reeling from his party losing heavily in last week's Dutch election in a result that puts his role as finance minister at risk, said he had "no intention to step down" as Eurogroup head.
In an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Monday, Dijsselbloem stressed the importance of eurozone members obeying the bloc's strict rules on spending.
Dijsselbloem said that while committing to financial rescues for poorer nations in the eurozone was important, "I can't spend all my money on drinks and women and then ask for help."
These words were misinterpreted, Dijsselbloem said.
"The sentence referring to alcohol and women was about myself. I said that I cannot expect that if I spend my money in a wrong way that a can then ask for financial support," Dijsselbloem said.
But the words stung in Mediterranean countries Portugal, Greece and Cyprus that have all received eurozone bailouts in recent years -- as has Ireland in northern Europe -- while Spain's banks have also received support.
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