As debt-ridden Greece struggled to implement painful austerity measures to dodge a potentially humiliating default, there have been ominous whisperings about kicking Athens out of the euro zone as the last resort to stem the spreading crisis.

Thus it is encouraging when German and French leaders reiterated their support for helping Greece if Athens strictly implements austerity measures to bring its fiscal house into order after a trilateral conference call with the Greek prime minister on Thursday.

To ditch Greece at this difficult time would send a shivering message to global investors that the European Union, an ambitious political and economic bloc, simply could not save one of its members when it really counts.

The move, if really taken, would be tantamount to throwing in the white towel in Europe's fight against the debt crisis, and would inevitably raise serious questions about the EU's ability to deal with a messy crisis and cast a shadow over the bloc's long term future.

As EU financial chiefs are set to meet later on Friday in Wroclaw, Poland, to negotiate a possible new Greek rescue package, the whole world is waiting anxiously for the EU to pool its strength to overcome the current predicament.

Besides Greece, the Europe debt scenario turned nastier in the past months as much larger economies, such as Spain and Italy, also became vulnerable.

Now at stake is no longer the fate of some peripheral European countries but that of the euro zone and its common currency: the euro.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet