Poland's finance minister and the current chair of the rotating EU presidency warned Wednesday that the debt crisis could lead to war in the continent within a decade.

Jacek Rostowski made the remark before the European parliament in Strasbourg, France ahead of the emergency teleconference on the Greece debt crisis among French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

"Europe is in danger," the EU Observer quoted Rostowski as saying. He cited a UBS report entitled "Euro Break Up - The Consequences," which warned that historically, monetary unions break up with a civil war.

Mired in debt, speculations are rife that Greece could default leading to its separation from the eurozone,
Rostowski also cited a comment from an old friend who heads a major bank. According to the Polish minister, his friend told him in a conversation that it is rare to avoid a war in 10 years following political and economic shocks.

"I am really thinking about obtaining a green card for my kids in the United States," Rostowki said, according to the EU Observer.

The 27-member EU, 17 of which uses a common currency, is under intense strain with the debt crisis its most serious challenge. European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso had said that EU is fighting for its future.