Athens promises to satisfy a new purge Berlin

Angela Merkel is mounted on the front line on Monday to try to calm her European partners and markets: Berlin will provide financial assistance to Greece "in the coming days, if Athens accepted the cure of austerity imposed by the IMF and the European Union. The Greek finance minister was quick to comply. Greece will present "at the end of the week" new "concrete steps" to reduce "dramatically" its deficit, acted on Monday, the Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou.

The Chancellor said his "confidence" in the capacity of Greece to present a credible program of savings. But on Monday, she went before the cameras with fifteen minutes late, illustrating the tensions within the corridors of the Chancery on the issue of the bailout."I say clearly, will help Germany Greece if the conditions are met," he assured the Chancellor.

Merkel has ruled out the hypothesis of an outflow of Greece to the euro area considering that possibility, raised by some in Germany these days, including in its majority, was "not an option" and did markets cause concern. She received Tuesday at the chancellery IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The Chancellor also insisted that the director of the Fund met the leaders of parties represented in the Bundestag, which must approve the financial aid in time. She said "understand very well the concerns of people in Germany."That is why "I insist on a comprehensive, well prepared" Greek deficit reduction, "she added.

Since Greece has called Friday, triggering the mechanism of EU aid and the IMF, the spirits continue to heat up the Rhine. The German media fanning the fire by increasing reports showing that the crisis has not changed in Greece, where taxi drivers and newsagents continue to be paid to black and where public employees receive pensions comfortable .The Germans, who tighten their belts over the past ten years, refused a massive rescue of Greece.

With the approach of regional elections on May 9 in North Rhine-Westphalia, difficult for the center-right government of Chancellor, the leaders of the majority want to avoid at all costs to lose the vote because of aid to Greece .

European Reviews

The Finance Minister, Wolfgang Sch?uble, had brandished the threat of a veto German plan with the EU and the IMF. The liberal FDP say that Berlin "will not offer the Greeks a blank check." Although she has promised to act quickly, Merkel tried to play the shows, even if only to show that it has not sold off billions of German taxpayers.

The attitude of Germany as always irritates its European partners.The President of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker in Berlin accused of throwing "a priority under domestic political issues in Europe." The Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, said he was "troubled" by the "rigidity" of Germany.

France is showing more diplomatic. Monday, following a lunch between Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the Elysee said that both had "acknowledged their agreement on the need for swift and resolute action against the speculation that Greece aims to ensure the stability of the euro area.

But speed does not mean precipitation, "said Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde. "We all need to preserve the process of the rule of law and democracy," she said Monday from New York, acknowledging that the situation is "a bit chaotic.Although "the markets have found the reaction too slow European [...] the debate is necessary for local views," she added, referring to the German electoral context. If the situation does not release quickly, a special meeting at the highest level of Heads of State and Government of the EU may be needed to resolve the crisis, said Franco Frattini.

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