No third bail-out for Greece, says deputy leader

The looming prospect of a third rescue package for Greece has been widely acknowledged by key EU figures, including an unlikely admission from the German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in the run-up to this month's elections. Greece faces a ...

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Greek bonds rally as German election draws near

Funding gaps facing Athens and the risk Portugal may not return to markets when its bailout runs out next year will be among European policy challenges for Germany's next government. But as Greek yields fell to one-month lows, Portugal's held ...

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Europe's reluctant giant: Germany wary of global leadership role ahead of national polls

by  Associated Press Germany: economic giant reluctant to lead by GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press - 18 September 2013 02:58-04:00

BERLIN (AP) — Germany boasts the world's most powerful woman, Europe's most powerful economy and an industrial machine that's the envy of the planet.

With all that muscle, it seems a natural to assume the mantle of Europe's undisputed leader. But Germany is a reluctant giant — and this Sunday's national elections are unlikely to change that.

If the political debate ahead of the election proved anything, it's that neither incumbent Angela Merkel's conservative forces, nor her center-left rivals — nor indeed the German people at large — have any appetite to take center stage as a European or global leader, despite the unmistakably German flavor of the continent's response to its debt crisis.

Germany seems content to lurk in the shadows, perhaps quietly pulling strings or exerting pressure, but unwilling to assume the risks that true political leadership entails. That fact has been reflected on the campaign trail, with little discussion of Germany's role in Europe and the wider world, or the future of the common euro currency.

Such issues have taken a back seat to more mundane matters such as higher taxes for the rich or a national minimum wage. And both Merkel and challenger Peer Steinbrueck were quick to rule German participation in any military strikes against Syria.

To be sure, since Greece's debt troubles ignited Europe's debt crisis nearly four years ago, Germany's economic firepower has made it the country without which few significant decisions can be made in Europe. Sixty-eight years since the collapse of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime, Berlin is in a novel position of pre-eminence after decades of being on equal terms with France as the continental heavyweight.

But with Europe often seen as rudderless, some — even among former victims of German World War II aggression — would like Germany to embrace its leadership role openly.

Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski of Poland, a country traditionally wary of its bigger neighbor, has said that "nobody else can do it."

"I fear German power less than I am beginning to fear German inactivity," Sikorski told a largely German audience in late 2011.

Merkel is fond of saying that Europe must become more competitive as China and other powers rise. "The world doesn't sleep," she said recently. However, she hasn't coupled that with any grand visions for a continental revival.

In Europe, Merkel — an instinctively cautious politician — concentrates on what she calls her "step-by-step" approach of methodically tackling the continent's debt and competitiveness problems, keeping a tight hold on Germany's purse strings.

And if Germany's allies want it to exert more than economic "soft power," they are likely to be disappointed.

"Berlin quite simply lacks the political ambition to provide clear leadership in turbulent times," Ulrike Guerot of the European Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a research paper this month.

"Rather, it hopes to influence events by force of example, getting others to transpose the German model of thriftiness at home and competitiveness abroad into their own financial, economic and political cultures."

Concerns run high beyond Europe over Germany's timid attitude to global affairs, especially since it is one of NATO's biggest members.

"There's a lot of frustration in Washington with Germany's reluctance to take on a bigger role in international security affairs in particular," said Chris Chivvis, a political scientist at the RAND Corporation.

"There's a sense sometimes, rightly or wrongly, that Germany occasionally allows its history to become an excuse for not taking on responsibilities that are expected of a country with its wealth and, frankly, its global interests."

German politicians of all stripes balk at publicly embracing a dominant political role.

In July, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said "the idea that Europe should be — or even can be — led by a single country is wide of the mark," not only because of Germany's history but because the complex 28-nation EU isn't suited to a "leader-follower dynamic."

"We do not want a German Europe," he said.

Joachim Fritz-Vannahme of Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation think tank notes that the German word for "leader" — "Fuehrer" — is itself problematic since it was used by Hitler. Postwar Germany long rejected any notion of "leadership," he added.

Germany has become more self-confident but still "relatively frequently refuses to exert leadership and doesn't want to hear the word 'hegemon,'" he said. "That is the great psychological inhibition that exists both in the electorate ... and among our leading politicians."

That lack of desire for the kind of high-profile role played by United States — or by Britain and France generations ago — means the country hasn't translated its economic clout into international political power.

Germany backed the 1999 bombing of Serbia during the Kosovo crisis and agreed to send troops to Afghanistan. But the Germans refused to join in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the 2012 Western bombing campaign that toppled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

If anything, Germany's reluctance to join in military interventions has increased over recent years.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle advocates a "culture of military restraint," a view that is widely shared across the political spectrum.

On Syria, Merkel has taken a cautious line, pushing for diplomatic progress and leaving open whether it would be legitimate for others to take military action.

She also has argued that it makes sense to "help trustworthy partners" ensure security in their own regions, sometimes by delivering military equipment. Even that has drawn fire from domestic opponents, who argue that she's too ready to export weapons to sensitive areas such as the Persian Gulf region.

"With me as chancellor, no weapons would be exported to flashpoints or to countries that violate human rights," Steinbrueck said this summer.

News Topics: Business, General news, Economy, Government and politics, Government debt, International relations, Government finance, Government business and finance

People, Places and Companies: Angela Merkel, Peer Steinbrueck, Wolfgang Schaeuble, Muammar Gaddafi, Germany, Berlin, Europe, Western Europe

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German FinMin sees Greek funding gap of 4-4.5 bln euros

BERLIN, Sept 2 | Mon Sep 2, 2013 6:43am EDT BERLIN, Sept 2 (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble estimated Greece's financing gap under its current bailout programme at around 4 billion to 4.5 billion euros, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) said on Monday. Briefing reporters on Schaeuble's comments at a session of the German ...

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Schaeuble Snubs Greek Plea for Direct Bank Recapitalization

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble closed down one avenue of help sought by Greece while signaling that the Greek government can expect additional aid of as much as 11 billion euros ($14.7 billion). Schaeuble said in an Aug. 27 interview ...

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Angela Merkel Says Letting Greece Join Euro Was 'Fundamentally Wrong'

Angela Merkel Says Letting Greece Join Euro Was 'Fundamentally Wrong'Huffington Post UKAngela Merkel has admitted that Greece should never have been allowed to join the euro back in 2001, criticising her predecessor Gerard Schroeder's "wrong" decision as one of the "starting points" for the eurozone's current economic strife. Speaking at ...

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Is the price too high to keep Greece in the euro?

Spreads on Italian and Spanish bond yields have pulled back from the brink and European stockmarkets have rebounded – Italy’s MIB is up more than 25pc and Spain’s Ibex is up a third. Meanwhile, Greece has gained breathing space ...

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Merkel blames former chancellor for letting Greece join the euro in 2001 and admits that is when the financial rot set in

‘We are not talking about a new bailout but an economic support package without new (austerity ... financial lifeline would have to be extended to save Greece from collapse. Germany’s commissioner to the European Commission, Guenther ...

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Bring on euro debate, Merkel aide tells rivals before TV duel

BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel is relishing the chance to debate the euro zone crisis with challenger Peer Steinbrueck in their only TV duel of the election campaign, despite a row over Greek aid that has put her government on the defensive, her campaign chief said.

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Angela Merkel blames former chancellor Gerhard Schroder for letting Greece join the euro

The German chancellor blamed her predecessor Gerard Schroeder for the 'wrong' decision' during an election rally in front of 1000 supporters yesterday in the northern German town of Rendsburg.

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Merkel outburst over Greece joining euro

In a rare outburst, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Greece should never have been allowed to join the single currency. Speaking at a rally ahead of elections on September 22, Merkel told a crowd of around 1,000 German voters that the ...

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EU’s Rehn Says ‘Premature’ to Put Numbers on Greek Financing Gap

“The troika will do its job and make the analysis of the potential financing gap and we in the normal order of things will make possibly a proposal in the course of this autumn.” Greece’s widening needs have intruded on the election ...

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'Greece Should Not Have Been Allowed Into The Euro'

Angela Merkel has admitted that Greece should never have been allowed to join the euro back in 2001, criticising her predecessor Gerard Schroeder's "wrong" decision...

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German Finance Minister says 11 billion euros aid estimate for Greece 'not unrealistic'

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said an estimate by the International Monetary Fund that Greece will need an additional 11 billion euros to see it through to 2015 was "not completely unrealistic."

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Merkel Says SPD’s Schroeder to Blame for Letting Greece in Euro

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to pin the blame for the euro’s debt turmoil on her Social Democratic predecessor Gerhard Schroeder, saying he should never have let Greece into the single currency area. Merkel, addressing a campaign ...

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Schaeuble Says EUR11 Billion for Greece Isn't Unrealistic

BERLIN--The International Monetary Fund estimate that Greece needs an extra EUR11 billion ($14.7 billion) as part of a possible third bailout package is at a realistic level, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an newspaper ...

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Germany FM: No more eurozone bailouts

There will be no more Greek-style bailouts for ailing eurozone countries, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble tells CNN.

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Germany's finance minister: No more Greek-style eurozone bailouts

(CNN)-- There will be no more Greek-style bailouts for ailing eurozone countries if Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition party is successful in next month's election, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. However, there will be one ...

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Greece wants ANOTHER £8billion

Greece wants ANOTHER £8billion - but won't accept more austerity measuresDaily MailGreece wants another £8.6billion bailout to stay afloat – but said it will not accept any more austerity measures. Finance minister Yannis Stournaras said the country requires more help on top of the £206billion it has already received in two rescue ...

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Stournaras Says Greece Needs Better Deal

Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras (R) here with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, says he's optimistic about Greece's economic recovery yet. Greece may seek to ease its debt burden by renegotiating its bailout terms, the Greek Finance Minister said on Aug. 26. Yannis Stournaras told German newspaper Handelsblatt this could involve lower interest payments and more time ...

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