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French Finance Minister Francois Baroin has stressed the need for Europe to send a "strong message" that it will act decisively to contain the Greek debt crisis. He said Thursday's summit of European leaders should pave the way for further assistance to the debt-ridden country. The International Monetary Fund has called on Europe to take strong action. Mr Baroin's comments came as European banking shares recovered strongly from sharp falls earlier this week. In France, Societe Generale and BNP were up about 3%, while in Germany, Deutsche Bank climbed 2.8% and Commerzbank rose more than 2%. Banking shares fell sharply on Monday on debt fears and concerns about the credibility of last Friday's Europe-wide bank stress tests.