EU support for DSK waning

Posted By David Bosco Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 2:39 PM Share

The EUobserver reports that several European Union ministers want Dominique Strauss-Kahn to resign his International Monetary Fund post:

Two EU ministers have suggested that Dominique Strauss-Kahn should resign as head of the International Monetary Fund because his arrest on sexual assault charges is "hurting" the institution.

"Considering the situation, that bail was denied, he has to figure out for himself that he is hurting the institution," Austrian finance minister Maria Fekter said on Tuesday (17 May) as she arrived at a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels....[snip]

Her colleague from Spain, Elena Salgado, said the French politician had to decide for himself whether he wanted to step down, considering the "extraordinarily serious" nature of the charges.

"If I had to show my solidarity and support for someone it would be toward the woman who has been assaulted, if that is really the case that she has been," she said.

Meanwhile, as the DSK story swirls, the work of the Fund's bureaucracy goes on. After meetings with senior Pakistani finance ministry officials, the IMF released a cautiously optimistic assessment of the talks and announced that a mission would visit Pakistan in July. The Fund's executive board also approved the disbursal of nearly $1.6 billion in already approved loans to Ireland.