It is another potentially-embarrassing revelation which Portugal’s prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho has deftly swatted to one side, blaming everything on “confusion” suffered by EC Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. The latter was widely reported telling Belgium’s Le Soir newspaper that he had hoped to start talks on Greek debt relief in October “but this date was rejected because some countries - like Ireland, Portugal and Spain - did not want it before their elections”.