Czech, Bulgarian PMs slam EU debtors, put off euro entry

(PRAGUE) - The Czech and Bulgarian prime ministers on Tuesday slammed their fiscally "undisciplined" EU peers, saying accession to the eurozone was not on the cards as the 17-member eurozone is mired in debt.

"The Czech and Bulgarian governments absolutely refuse to set a euro accession date, because nobody knows what this project will come down to," Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas told reporters.

"Besides, we can all see how the monetary union is turning into a transfer union or even a debt union," he said following talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov in Prague.

Necas's centre-right cabinet has made painful cuts and started badly-needed reforms, earning praise from the Standard & Poor's ratings agency which raised its long-term credit and currency ratings for the country in August.

Borisov, whose country saw an upward revision in credit ratings from Moody's agency in July, said eurozone entry was turning from a goal to "something we are watching cautiously while waiting because we don't know what will happen."

The Czech Republic and Bulgaria pledged to adopt the euro when they joined the EU in 2004 and 2007, respectively, but the long-dragging crisis has complicated the efforts of the former communist countries and made them wary.

Neither of them are under any deadline to join, and while the euro-sceptic Czechs have been in no rush to adopt the single currency, Bulgaria has until recently been keen to join as soon as possible.

Borisov slammed debt-struck eurozone members, advising them to cut wages and pensions to the Bulgarian level.

"Some countries... should cut pensions to the level of Bulgaria and Europe will be well-off in a year or two," he said.

"Let countries spend only as much as they earn. No one should take taxpayers' money and give it to those who are undisciplined," Borisov added.