French President Nicolas Sarkozy dismissed concerns about the euro zone debt crisis at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, saying that France and its European partners would “never turn our backs on the euro”.

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AFP - France's President Nicolas Sarkozy dismissed speculation against the euro Thursday, declaring that he and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel would never allow the currency to fail.

"Whether it be Chancellor Merkel or myself, never, never will we turn our backs on the euro. We will never abandon the euro, we will never drop the euro," Sarkozy told the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"The euro spells Europe. The euro is Europe and Europe has spelled 60 years of peace on our continent, therefore we will never let the euro go or be destroyed," he insisted.

"For us, it's not simply an economic issue, it has to do with our identity as Europeans. For those of you who want to bet against the euro, be careful how you invest. We are determined to ensure the strength of the euro."

"It is of such importance that we will be there whenever it needs to be defended. The consequences of it failing would be so cataclysmic that we could never entertain the idea," he declared.

Several eurozone countries are mired in massive public debt, leading some observers to question whether the single currency bloc can hold together, but the French leader has made it clear that this is a political priority.

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