Politicians should be more grateful

The conditions for Portugal's bailout are less stringent than those for Greece and Ireland but this is no cause for celebration, the business daily Jornal de Negócios writes: "When [opposition leader] Pedro Passos Coelho asked Brussels a few months ago to grant Portugal another year to reduce its deficit he was labelled as immature, irresponsible and destabilising. Yesterday Portugal got precisely what Passos Coelho had asked for - thank goodness. So what do we do now so that another year doesn't turn into yet another year? ... The politicians are celebrating their political victory: the 'it's all your fault' game has turned into a 'this is all thanks to us' game. The players are the same as before: the socialists, the conservatives and the right-wing conservatives. And indeed there are three players who deserve praise for the tolerance shown to Portugal yesterday - namely the IMF, the ECB and the EU. A little gratitude is called for rather than all the proud blustering."

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