Spain's prime minister has defended his nation's economy as "robust and strong" and vowed to stand by Greece, which has plunged the nations using the common European currency into a debt crisis.

In comments late Thursday, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also expressed understanding for President Barack Obama's decision not to attend an annual EU-US summit being planned for May and indicated a meeting would be held in the future, but did not say when.

In remarks to the Atlantic Council, Zapatero dismissed worries about the Spanish economy, saying that "Spain's financial system is robust and strong."

Last week, Zapatero's government announced a deficit for 2009 that was equal to 11.4 percent of economic output, nearly four times the European Union limit. Madrid's disclosure came atop EU concerns about Greece's 12.7 percent budget deficit that has forced the government to enact austerity measures and fueled fears that it might default.

Zapatero, whose nation currently holds the rotating EU presidency, pledged support for Greece "because it is a European country, and that is what Europe is all about." He refused to draw comparisons between the situations in the two nations.

Zapatero was in Washington for a two-day visit that ended Thursday and included attending an annual prayer breakfast with Obama. The two leaders spoke briefly after the event, which came only days after the announcement by a deputy secretary of state that the president would not travel to Madrid for an annual meeting with EU leaders.

That triggered soul-searching across Europe over how seriously Washington takes it as a global player.

Zapatero, who was to have hosted the summit, sought to downplay the decision saying the timing of the event would be based on topics that needed discussion and not the calendar.

"We will be holding an EU-U.S. summit when the agenda so allows," Zapatero said. "By that I do not mean dates, I mean the content."

Source: www.businessweek.com