While France and Britain engaged in a war of words on the state of their economies and their credit ratings, rating agency Fitch warned it could soon downgrade the debt of six eurozone nations.

Late on Friday, another agency, Moody's, announced a downgrade of Belgium's debt by two notches to Aa3 from Aa1.

"The fragility of the sovereign debt markets is increasingly entrenched and unlikely to be reversed in the near future," the agency said in a statement, emphasizing the lack of a quick end to the eurozone debt crisis.

Earlier in the day, Fitch cited similar concerns and put the ratings of Italy, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Slovenia and Cyprus on negative watch. France has retained its AAA rating for the time being.

"Fitch has concluded that a 'comprehensive solution' to the eurozone crisis is technically and politically beyond reach," the agency said in a statement.

Ruffled feathers

Meanwhile, relations between France and Britain took another turn for the worse after British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Friday that his criticism of the UK economy was "unacceptable" and that he should "calm the rhetoric." Downing Street chimed in, saying Clegg was "absolutely right" and that Fillon's comments "were not helpful in any way."

Earlier, Fillon had said that ratings agencies "appeared more focused on economic governance than on deficit levels."

"Our British friends are even more indebted than we are and have a higher deficit but the rating agencies do not seem to notice this," Fillon had told reporters.

French Finance Minister Francois Baroin added fuel to the fire by telling French radio that "the economic situation in Britain today is very worrying, and you'd rather be French than British in economic terms."

The French comments came after rating agency Standard and Poor's said Thursday that France could lose its top-notch rating as a result of the eurozone crisis. It prompted a barrage of criticism by French politicians and Bank of France governor Christian Noyer, who suggested Britain should be targeted instead.

"They should start by downgrading the United Kingdom, which has greater deficits, as much debt, more inflation and less growth than us," Noyer told regional newspaper Le Telegramme.

Relations between Britain and the eurozone have been tense since the UK decided to veto changes to the EU treaty at last week's summit.

Author: Nicole Goebel (Reuters, AP, AFP)

Editor: Martin Kuebler