| Merkel refuses to renegotiate Greece’s bailout on election eve |
BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out renegotiating Greece’s bailout on Saturday, saying a day before Greeks go to the polls that agreements with international lenders have to be stuck to.
“That’s why it’s so important that the Greek elections preferably lead to a result in which those that will form a future government say: ‘yes, we will stick to the agreements’,” Merkel said at a party conference of the Christian Democrats in the state of Hesse.
A leading German right-wing politician warned on Saturday that if the far left wins Greece’s elections this weekend, the country’s exit from the eurozone “will be only a matter of time.”
“If the radical left carries on saying it wants the help of all the other countries in the eurozone but does not offer anything in return, then it will only be a matter of time before Greece exits” the eurozone, said Wolfgang Bosbach, chairman of the interior ministry committee in parliament and a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Even without Sunday’s elections, Greece is not fit to be a member of the eurozone, the top Christian Democratic Union official said.
Merkel stood firm against growth quick fixes to Europe’s crisis on Friday and France rushed to reassure her she would not be sidelined as the clock ticked down on a fateful Greek vote.
Merkel insisted that hasty proposals such as eurobonds, backed by France, for pooling debt in Europe, would result in ‘mediocrity,’ while Paris fought perceptions of a rift with Berlin insisting the two should work ‘hand-in-hand.’
Europe’s debt crisis can only be addressed by tackling its root causes — debt and uneven competitiveness — Merkel said, warning that proposals to mutualise debt or risk merely papered over the divergences between countries.
“The country’s economy lacks dynamism, competitiveness and efficient governance. And billions more aid will not change that fundamentally,” he said in excerpts from an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeiting, to be published in full on Sunday.
Agencies
|
 |
|
|
| NEWS UPDATES |
|
|
|
|
|
|
