BERLIN, Germany - February 6, 2010 - Guenther Oettinger, a conservative leader in Germany and designated European Union energy commissioner, warned in a German newspaper interview on Saturday that the euro was in danger of becoming an unstable currency. Oettinger, the outgoing state premier of Baden-Wuerttenberg, told the Reutlinger General-Anzeiger daily that stabilizing the euro in the face of a deepening debt crisis is one of the greatest challenges the European Union faces.

"In my view the most important (challenge for Europe) is stabilizing the currency," Oettinger was quoted as saying. "The euro is in danger of becoming unstable - look at Greece, Ireland or possibly soon Spain, Portugal, Latvia and Italy."

Oettinger's comments in the small regional newspaper from outside Stuttgart stood in contrast to those from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. Both Schaeuble and Oettinger are leaders in Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats Union.

Schaeuble said at a G7 meeting in Canada on Friday that the euro would remain stable despite the problems in individual countries, while the deepening debt crisis leapt to the top of the agenda amid fears that Greece's fiscal sickness was spreading.