Portugal's prime minister has led calls for the head of the eurozone's finance ministers to resign after he refused to apologise for suggesting that southern European countries had squandered their money "on booze and women".

Prime Minister Antonio Costa described Jeroen Dijsselbloem's remarks as "racist, xenophobic and sexist" and said Europe would lose credibility if the Dutchman did not step down.

Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi also backed calls for the Dutch official to step aside, calling his remarks "stupid jokes" and writing "the sooner he quits, the better" on his official Facebook page. 

The spat has reawakened simmering anger in southern Europe over the harsh austerity some of their countries went through under bailouts during the euro zone debt crisis, pitting creditor nations in the north against the poorer indebted south.

"Europe will only be credible as a common project on the day when Mr. Dijsselbloem stops being head of the eurogroup and apologises clearly to all the countries and peoples that were profoundly offended by his remarks," Costa told reporters.

A Spanish lawmaker in the European Parliament, Esteban Gonzalez Pons, labelled the remarks "a racist and male-chauvinist insult to the southern countries, and their women". He also demanded Dijsselbloem quit his post as eurogroup chairman.

A spokesman for Dijsselbloem, who has been Dutch finance minister since 2012 and headed the eurogroup since 2013, said the comments were not aimed at any one region.

"Dijsselbloem didn't refer to any one country or group of countries," the spokesman said. "His message is meant for all eurozone countries: solidarity comes with obligations."

Dijsselbloem's term ends in January, 2018. But eurozone finance ministers are due to discuss whether he should stay in the post until then after his centre-left party suffered heavily in this month's Dutch elections. A new formal coalition is yet to be appointed and he could lose his job as finance minister.

A spokeswoman for German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the minister valued Dijsselbloem's work and sought to play down the remarks.

"We expect, so long as this (Dutch) government is in office, that we will have a fully functioning Eurogroup chair," she said, adding: "I don't award marks for style in interviews."

"COMPLETELY MISGUIDED"

Europe's debt crisis started with a bailout for Greece in 2010. Portugal, Cyprus and Ireland also received emergency loans, while Spain sought rescue funds for its banks. Greece has still not recovered and is currently seeking new loans.

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said Dijsselbloem's comment was "completely misguided, it adopts stereotypes that widen the chasm between north and south and lays out the carpet for extremist views, not to mention sexist overtones."

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Dijsselbloem's comments were "wrong."

Austerity measures unleashed anger and frequent protests in southern Europe during the crisis, often directed at Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel. In Greece this week several booby-trapped packages, intended for eurozone officials including Dijsselbloem, were intercepted by authorities.

Dijsselbloem has been in trouble previously for his outspoken comments. In 2014, he called European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker a heavy drinker and smoker.

He also spooked markets in 2013 when he said the Cypriot bank rescue plan, in which depositors with more than 100,000 euros faced losses along with shareholders and bondholders, would be the new template for eurozone bank rescues.

In the weekend interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Dijsselbloem said that wealthier northern European countries had showed solidarity with the south during the by giving them financial aid.

"But whoever demands it, also has obligations. I can’t spend all my money on booze and women and then ask you for your support. This principle holds at personal, local, national and even European levels," he was quoted as saying.

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