UPDATE - Hungary PM lobbies EU for EUR 180 bn support package for E Europe (adds reaction to Merkel, comments on euro).

(From Hungarian News Agency (MTI))

Brussels, March 1 (MTI) - Hungary's prime minister on Sunday lobbied the European Union for a support package worth 180 billion euros for east European countries and their banking systems hard hit by the financial crisis, and he urged that the euro accession process be sped up.

Ferenc Gyurcsany gave warning that there was a danger the continent would be divided again by an "Iron Curtain", and called on leaders at an informal meeting to set up a fund to help restore solvency to east European financial markets.

"We should not let a new Iron Curtain divide Europe again," Gyurcsany said at a news conference.

But Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected Gyurcsany's appeal for the aid package for eastern Europe, saying that blanket bailout would not work.

"You cannot compare; the dire situation in Hungary with that of other countries," said Merkel.

Gyurcsany told MTI after Merkel made her comment, that he did not believe that a single solution was appropriate for addressing the different challenges of countries in the region. But he said that coordinated action was needed.