Finnish minister calls for Greek debt deal by week's end

(BRUSSELS) - Warning that Europe faces "crunch time," a top Finnish minister called on Monday for the eurozone to complete a stalled Greek rescue package by the end of the week to calm market nerves.

Alexander Stubb, Finland's European affairs minister, said he hoped a deal on Helsinki's demands for Greece to provide collateral guarantees to Finland will be reached at a meeting of European Union finance ministers on Friday and Saturday.

"I think we have come to a crunch time on two accounts," Stubb told reporters on the sidelines of a European affairs ministers' meeting in Brussels.

"One, Greece needs to prove that it is capable of doing the structural changes which has been requested to do. And then two, we need a political decision on the collateral issue as well," he said.

Europe is heading into a "pretty tough week," Stubb said, noting that stock markets tumbled worldwide on Monday morning amid deep investor concern about the eurozone's ability to resolve the debt crisis.

"One thing is becoming increasingly evident: it's that this whole process is so market driven. We really need to wake up in Europe and smell the coffee and understand that," the former Finnish foreign minister said.

"People need to understand that it's not the European Union that's leading the show right now, it is the markets. It's not the European Union that's forcing Greece to structural changes, it's the markets."

Eurozone leaders offered on July 21 to provide Greece with a second bailout, worth nearly 160 billion euros in government and private aid, but the deal has stalled partly due to demands for Greece to provide some sort of collateral.

Stubb insisted there was no weakening of Europe's political commitment to save the euro.

"But the situation is very tight," he said. "If there is political will I think we can get through this week but we'll have to see how it all pans out."

"I'm an eternal optimist. It would be much more useful to get the Greek package in, over and done with than to let Greece default."