ECB Holds off to Force Politicians' Hand in Crisis The European Central Bank has a powerful weapon that just might push political leaders into helping solve the continent's financial crisis: withholding further support. The ECB isn't likely to take any new steps when it meets Wednesday, analysts say, even as anxiety builds over the deteriorating outlook for Europe's economy and banking system. ECB President Mario Draghi signaled last week that he wants to see stronger political and financial ties among the 17 countries that use the euro. If such ties are forged - possibly at a European Union summit later this month - analysts say the ECB would be more likely to reward European governments and banks with the financial shot in the arm they desperately need. It's a risky game because euro countries are in big trouble. Spain's borrowing costs are rising to an unsustainable level as the country struggles to come up with billions to prop up banks saddled by bad real estate loans. Concerns are rising that it could be forced to join Ireland, Greece and Portugal in seeking an international financial rescue. Spain's economy is much larger than the other three, making its problems an order of magnitude more worrisome for European leaders. FILE - In this May 31, 2012 file picture President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi reports to the Economic Committee, in capacity as the head of the European Systemic Risk Board, at the European Parliament in Brussels. The European central Bank's 23-member governing council meets Wednesday June 6, 2012. No cut is expected in its benchmark interest rate, which has already been lowered to a record low 1 percent. Draghi wants politicians such as Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and European Commmission President Jose Manuel Barroso to come together on far-reaching and potentially controversial action to fix what's really wrong with the euro at a summit June 28-29 in Brussels. Then, analysts say, more help might be forthcoming. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe) Close In just over two weeks, Greek voters return to the polls. If they elect a government that rejects the terms of the country's multibillion-euro bailout, this could force the country out of the euro - an outcome that would have uncertain and potentially dire consequences for global financial markets. All across Europe, ailing banks and governments are joined at the hip. Bailing out banks has been a huge burden on governments; and weakened government finances have been a drag on banks that own government bonds. Over the past week, some of Europe's leading authorities have been pushing political leaders to act quickly to break this burdensome link. The European Commission called on politicians last Wednesday to create a central European authority with the financial muscle to fix the continent's broken banks. The next day, Draghi echoed those comments, saying the current setup of the 17-country currency union was "unsustainable." No cut is expected Wednesday in the ECB's benchmark interest rate, which is already at a record low of 1 percent. And there's little prospect that it will serve up more cheap emergency loans for shaky banks anytime soon. It handed out €1 trillion ($1.24 trillion) in such loans in December and February. Analysts say the ECB has a strong motive for staying put until it sees some movement from governments. "The ECB looks tired of being the eurozone's fire brigade and seems to have a preference for staying on hold," Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at ING in Brussels, wrote in a note to investors. It looks like the ECB will want to keep the pressure as high as possible to tackle political complacency. If Draghi and the ECB governing council see results from EU leaders at their late June summit, they might be inclined to respond with more help. That's what the ECB did after European countries agreed to a deficit-cutting treaty in December; it followed up with cheap bank loans that temporarily helped hold the crisis at bay. Of course, the ECB's hand could be forced sooner if Europe's financial crisis were to deteriorate. Among the measures the ECB could introduce are: