Obama praises G8 debt agreement

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CHICAGO, May 21 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Monday praised the Group of Eight leaders for agreeing on a common strategy to fix the European debt crisis.

In a news conference following the close of the NATO summit in Chicago, Obama said the leaders engaged in extensive discussions during their meeting at Camp David Friday and agreed firewalls have to be put in place to make sure countries outside Greece are not harmed.

Greek voters last month rebelled against austerity measures imposed by the European Union to keep the government from going into default, sparking fears Greece would drop out of the eurozone and trigger a financial disaster for the continent.

"The good news was you saw consensus across the board," Obama said. "There was agreement a balanced approach is what is needed right now."

He added: "The European project involves more than just a currency.

Obama also said he recognizes fixing the debt crisis is not going to be easy since 17 nations are involved.

"I think about my one Congress. And then I think about 17 congresses and I get a bit of a headache," Obama said.