Merkel Seeks to Head Off Opposition to Greek Bailout
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Version 0 of 1. BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that she expected the International Monetary Fund to take part in the new bailout for Greece, as she sought to head off opposition to the aid package in the German Parliament. In her first public comments on the bailout, an interview with the public broadcaster ZDF, Ms. Merkel cautioned that one could not yet say with certainty that the bailout would work, but said there was definitely hope. Her wariness seemed partly to be a nod to the skepticism of many lawmakers in her own conservative bloc, who must vote along with other parliamentary deputies on whether to approve the package in a special session on Wednesday. Last month, 60 of the 311 conservative deputies voted against opening talks with Greece on a third bailout, and five abstained. While there is no doubt that the 631-member Parliament will approve the package, speculation is rife here about whether Ms. Merkel will face more opposition this week. In Germany’s consensus-based system, opposition from more than 20 percent of her own lawmakers would be seen as a blow to Ms. Merkel, though she can count on her Social Democratic coalition partners and some Green opposition deputies to approve the package. The chancellor declined to speculate on the possible opposition, stressing that she and her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, would argue for adopting the package. Mr. Schäuble, whose word carries weight with the skeptics, made clear on Sunday in an interview with the mass circulation daily newspaper Bild Zeitung that he felt the risk with Greece was worth taking. “After truly arduous negotiations, in Greece they now understand that the country cannot get around real and far-reaching reforms,” Mr. Schäuble said. The I.M.F.’s participation is a critical component of the Greek bailout, but the fund’s director, Christine Lagarde, has raised doubts about whether the fund’s charter prohibits its involvement if there is no debt restructuring. On Sunday, though, Ms. Merkel said Ms. Lagarde had agreed to take the matter to her board. Ms. Merkel reiterated that a so-called haircut, or write-off of debt, remained out of the question for Germany, but added that extending debt maturities and tweaking rates remained possibilities. “Ms. Lagarde has made very clear,” Ms. Merkel said, that if certain improvements are made, “she will give the word that the I.M.F. in October enters the program. I have no doubt that what Ms. Lagarde has said will become reality.” Eager to move on from months of wrangling over Greece, Ms. Merkel said that, in Europe, the refugee crisis and wars in neighboring regions “will occupy us very much more than the question of Greece and the stability of the euro.” The refugee situation “is extremely unsatisfactory,” Ms. Merkel said, casting it as a huge test “where we Europeans show whether we are really capable of acting together.” She said Europe needed a common asylum policy and assessment of the dangers in the war-torn lands that many of the refugees have fled. She disclosed that she had already discussed this with the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and would do so with her closest partner in Europe, President François Hollande of France. Ms. Merkel said it was necessary to differentiate between migrants who need asylum because of war or other dangers in their homelands and those from parts of the Balkans who are seeking better economic opportunity. The latter have little reason or hope to get asylum, she noted, while assuring that each arrival’s case would be examined. She also indicated that Berlin was prepared to do more in countries like Serbia and Albania to improve conditions there. Asked about the 202 attacks this year on refugee shelters in Germany, and about hostility toward the migrants, Ms. Merkel said: “Every person who comes is a human being and has the right to be treated as such.” |