The German government’s desire for Greece’s Eurozone membership expressed the country’s Vice Chancellor and Economic Affairs Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, in his recent interview to German newspaper “Hanoversche Allgemeine Zeitung,” adding that the Eurozone expects that the agreements between the two sides are implemented. The Vice Chancellor’s interview came as a response to a recent “Der Spiegel” article, which speculated that the German government is preparing for a possible Greek exit from the European monetary union. Gabriel highlighted that there are no such secret plans, while he repeated his call for the Greek government to stick with its agreed commitments. “The aim of the German government, the European Union and Athens’ government itself is to keep Greece in the Eurozone. There were and there are no other plans on the contrary,” underlined Gabriel, noting that the Eurozone has become more stable in recent years. “Therefore, there cannot be any blackmailing and we expect from the future Greek government – whoever its leader might be – to comply with the agreements concluded with the EU,” he said. In the event that Greece leaves the Euro, it will be unable to pay its debts, which will then burden Germany, warned CDU’s (Christian Democratic Union) Christian Baeumler in response to the “Der Spiegel” report, which caused major reactions within the country. SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany), the leader of which is Gabriel, heavily criticized those rumors and accused the conservatives of the German coalition government for the “Der Spiegel” leak. On its behalf, German leftish party Die Linke personally accused Chancellor Angela Merkel of an attempt to destabilize Greece ahead of the January 25 critical general elections, by resorting to such a public extortion. At the same time, German newspaper “Die Welt” claimed in a report that Greece currently holds an advantage over Germany, arguing that a new debt haircut is now more possible than ever before, while adding that a Grexit would be inevitable in case Greek main opposition SYRIZA comes to power after the snap elections and freezes the austerity measures as promised. As such, the German government is indirectly involved in Greece’s domestic affairs, something that will further support SYRIZA’s cause, while potentially lead to a bank run and further alienate the Greek political elite, which may then increase the pressure in Europe.
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