EUROZONE-GREECE/GERMANY Tolerance for Greeks financial troubles slowly dwindling in Germany

Record ID: 148556

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/GERMANY Tolerance for Greeks financial troubles slowly dwindling in Germany
  • Date: 3rd July 2015
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JULY 3, 2015) (REUTERS) SELECTION OF GERMAN NEWSPAPERS / BILD NEWSPAPER WITH HEADLINE READING (German) "THE BILD REFERENDUM" GERMAN NEWSPAPERS / BZ NEWSPAPER HEADLINE SHOWING TSIPRAS AND READING (German): "THE MAN WITH TWO FACES" MAGAZINE 'WIIRTSCHAFTSWOCHE' HEADLINE READING (German) '"IF THE EURO FAILS..." MAGAZINE 'DER STERN' FRONT PAGE READING (German):
  • Embargoed: 18th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA58XX9LL2NNW2U4YCGK9TDPPJK
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Germans expressed exasperation on Friday (July 3) as the eurozone waited with baited breath for the results of Greece's referendum set for Sunday (July 5) after lengthy debt wrangling with creditors.
    When Alexis Tsipras dropped the bombshell of a popular plebiscite on the tough demands of creditors keeping Greece afloat, he cited the country's pedigree as the "birthplace of democracy".
    Greeks, the left-wing prime minister said last weekend, "should send a resounding democratic message to the European and global community".
    But in Germany, Greece's biggest creditor, its toughest critic and the backbone of the euro, the popular Bild newspaper is looking to send a message of its own -- inviting Germans on Friday to vote on whether they should keep paying to keep Athens afloat. The 'Yes' box was placed above the 'No'.
    On the streets of the German capital, passers-by were less enthusiastic about Greece remaining in the common currency than Tsipras might have liked. Asked how they would vote in the Bild referendum on whether Germany should continue bailing out Athens, most said no.
    "No, better not. Well, then the money would be gone. But I think for Greece it would have been better to start afresh, with a new currency," Theresa Meier said.
    "Not under the current conditions. There should be a different government, and it would have to negotiate anew with the EU. And the conditions should be more reasonable, if they want to try to rebuild the country. We did that, we here in Germany. We rebuilt Eastern Germany. It was (economically) down as well, and it worked. But the people will have to want it," another passer-by, Joachim Rode, told Reuters TV.
    In fairness, Europe's grand project to bind its nations into an unbreakable union after two world wars has been tainted by questions of democracy before.
    Many Germans, of course, still gripe about a vote that never was - on ditching the much-loved Deutsche Mark when the euro was rolled out in the late 1990s.
    Helmut Kohl, who as Germany's longest-serving post-war chancellor was a founding father of the common currency, said later the euro would never have passed a popular vote.
    At a government news conference, spokesman Steffen Seibert said that it was "no use" talking about potential future deals until after the results of the referendum.
    "Only then can we check whether there are any requests of the Greek government for talks, or for aid packages. And then we can start negotiating. I do not want to speculate," he said in Berlin.
    The Syriza-led government says it was elected in January this year on a mandate to fight austerity, but was presented with a take-it-or-leave aid offer from creditors that Tsipras argued would only further suffocate the economy. He insists Greece's European partners do not want to see Greece leave the common currency, fearing further fallout for the union, so will be forced to compromise if Greeks vote 'No'.
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