WARSAW, Poland, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- European finance leaders have canceled a critical meeting in advance of Wednesday's summit in Brussels, the European Union said.
A statement released from Poland, which holds the presidency of the European Union, said, "Further work at the level of ministers of finance will be conducted based on the outcome of the head-of-state meeting. The aim is to adopt all necessary elements and details concerning the package as promptly as possible," The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
On one hand, the announcement signals all details are not in place for the leaders to reveal the grand strategy that is expected to address recapitalization of European banks and restructuring of Greek debt.
The announcement was first scheduled for Sunday but rescheduled for Wednesday. Finance ministers, however, were to meet Tuesday to hammer out details and smooth the way for Wednesday's summit.
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But the delay also signals a split between non-eurozone nations and the 17 countries that share the euro.
Non-eurozone countries did not want to pre-approve strategies without all the details in place, the Journal said.
A source told the Journal at this point the heads of state, who will still gather in Brussels Wednesday, will not come up with an agreement on the size of the financial aid package. They will likely not be ready to announce a plan for recapitalizing banks, either.
The source said, "There are constant discussions among top officials and we will have a better timeline on the announcements as the summit progresses tomorrow. Everybody knows that the markets expect solid results."
In Athens, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said he was hopeful Wednesday's summit would conclude with the announcement of a solid plan for Greece and the rest of the continent.
"Tomorrow we want to be able to turn the page, so that we, as Europe and as a country, can move forward," Papandreou was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.
