French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he and European partners will "never turn our backs on the euro" despite the crisis over government debt.

Sarkozy, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland today, said "the disappearance of the euro would be so cataclysmic that we can't even possibly entertain the idea".

He acknowledged worries about the future of the 17-nation currency since the European Union and International Monetary Fund had to bail out debt-laden Greece and then Ireland.

But, he said, "the euro is still there".

Concerns about the eurozone debt crisis have drawn a lot of attention at the forum of world business and government leaders.

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