The explicit affirmation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel from London that no question of changing Berlin’s policy towards Greece gives an end to the speculation regarding the risk of a Grexit, which was fueled by recent reports in the German press. Merkel’s message was addressed to “people and market participants,” as she pointed out, which have reacted with great nervousness when similar articles – the latest by German newspaper Bild – said that the German government is preparing for a possible Grexit if the country’s main opposition, SYRIZA, wins the January 25 elections. Merkel’s assurances are the logical continuation of the strategy she is following during the last five years in order “to bring the Greeks in the path of virtue, with a policy mix of stick and carrot, financial support towards economic reforms, or, according to her own words, solidarity with a strategy at risk if Alexis Tsipras wins the elections,” notes Munich newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Thus, the consequence of an Athens default would be stopping any assistance to Greece and exit from the Eurozone. The author attempts, however, to substantiate the reasons which he considers will bring Merkel at the same table with Tsipras in order to negotiate. “Even though some government officials would love to exhibit the instruments of torture to Athens (in case of a default), a possible exit of Greece from the Euro would be the Chancellor’s largest political defeat during the time she has been in office, because it would be tantamount to a failure confession regarding a policy, which may have been wrong from the beginning.” The newspaper further claimed that this would not be the worst: “The worst would be that Greece’s exit from the Euro would probably mean the country’s default. In this case, Merkel should address the Bundestag (German Parliament) and admit before the MPs that despite assurances to the contrary, a large part of German credit to Athens would be lost, which would mean a loss of several billion Euros for German taxpayers. This would signal a day of celebration for the Eurosceptic party ‘Alternative Option for Germany’ (AfD) and Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West).” Therefore, the last days, more and more articles in the German press as well as political analysts estimate that Merkel is forced to negotiate with a possible Tsipras administration as a logical continuation of her policy imposed so far.
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