Merkel Vows to Keep Euro Intact as She Dives Into Greek Standoff
by Arne DelfsNikos Chrysoloras
(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to keep the euro intact as the strain of keeping Greece afloat opened divisions among European Central Bank policy makers.
Merkel will meet Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at a European Union summit in Brussels Thursday with work to prepare for more financial aid stalled and the ECB Governing Council fending off calls from its own banking supervisors to tighten the screws on the government in Athens.
“If the euro fails, Europe fails,” Merkel told German lawmakers in Berlin before she traveled to Brussels, reprising an expression she adopted during the height of the debt crisis from 2010 to 2012. “The eyes of the world are looking at how we deal with problems and crises in individual countries of the euro zone. The euro is more than a currency.”
Merkel, who said in her speech that a deal won’t happen in the coming days, is ready to go a long way to find an eventual compromise, said a German official with knowledge of her thinking, who asked not to be identified discussing internal strategy. Nonetheless, she plans to tell Tsipras that she expects Greece to play by the rules, the person said.
While the German leader strove for a conciliatory tone, Greece’s position within the currency union is getting increasingly uncomfortable. Bond yields jumped to their highest in almost two years after the ECB granted Greek officials only part of their request for more emergency funding.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-18/merkel-said-to-seek-accommodation-with-tsipras-in-talks
