Angela Merkel

By Simon Kennedy

Don?t believe the hype.

A reading of the German press suggests Chancellor Angela Merkel is at peace with the idea of Greece quitting the euro. Der Spiegel says her government views that as a manageable outcome; Bild reports that officials are preparing for the prospect. Lawmaker Michael Fuchs says Greece is no longer a threat to financial stability.

The German government is not planning for a Greek exit from the eurozone, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Wednesday, after Germany's Bild newspaper reported Berlin was working on contingency plans for an exit and possible run on banks.

Ukraine on Wednesday signed a EUR 500M loan agreement with Germany to rebuild public infrastructure in its eastern regions.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that the loan will be used to finance the reconstruction of roads, bridges, hospitals and other elements of public infrastructure, ITAR-TASS reported.

A group of pro-Russian hackers claimed responsibility for hacking the website of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the lower house of parliament - the Bundestag on Wednesday.

The attack comes as Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is expected to arrive in Berlin on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Any political turmoil in Greece following this month?s election is no longer a threat to the wider stability of the euro area, said Michael Fuchs, a senior lawmaker from Chancellor Angela Merkel?s party.

Supporters and opponents of a group campaigning against what it perceives as "Islamisation" of Europe have held rival rallies across Germany on Monday night.

By Brian Parkin and Birgit Jennen

Greek opposition leader Alexis Tsipras won?t get German support for easing austerity, though Greece?s exit from the euro area would be costly for Germany, members of Chancellor Angela Merkel?s two main coalition parties said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday that her government had not changed its position on the desirability of a Greek exit from the euro zone, saying the policy had always been to stabilize the bloc without losing any of its members.

Eurozone politicians are not obliged to rescue Greece as the country is no longer of systemic importance to the single currency bloc, a senior member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party was quoted as saying.

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Merkel named "person of year" by British newspaper

LONDON -- The Times newspaper has named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its "person of the year" - for her "central role in preserving European stability."

This happened "at a time of resurgent Russian aggression in eastern Europe," said the paper.