A meeting here between Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday ended with the French president's pledge for solidarity toward Greece and Sarkozy's call to Greece's European partners to show their support, stressing that this solidarity was precisely the reason why the Eurozone and the euro had been established in the first place.

The French president stressed that France's support for Greece would not be political only and he agreed with the need to combat financial speculators, noting that they were now targeting Greece but could potentially target any other country in the future.

Papandreou said he had found active support from France, which recognised and supported the efforts of the Greek people. Noting that resort to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was not Greece's preferred choice, Papandreou again stressed that Greece was not asking for financial assistance, only the opportunity to borrow at a similar rate as that available to other Eurozone countries.

On his part, the French president made it clear that the Euro area countries would rise to the occasion.

"There must be no doubt on this point," Sarkozy underlined after his one-hour meeting with the Greek premier, also attended on the French side by Economy Minister Christine Lagarde and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.