Politics of Germany

Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Wednesday it had not been an easy decision for euro zone finance ministers to extend the Greek rescue plan by four months and much doubt remained about how credible Athens' latest reform commitments really were.

A group of hardliners among German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have urged lawmakers to take a tough stance on a loan extension to Greece, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has written to the speaker of the lower house of parliament requesting a vote this week on extending the bailout.

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday he was "cautiously optimistic" that progress was being made on talks with Greece about extending its bailout, after Athens submitted reform plans to its European partners.

The German parliament could approve a four-month extension to euro zone funding for Greece, on condition Athens presents a list of reforms as promised, a senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted as saying.

Upon Eurogroups completion German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble sticks to his harsh theories.

“For as long as Greece does not complete the existing program will receive no funding. None”, says Wolfgang Schauble.

The German Minister of Finance continued by stating that the “Greek government will have trouble explaining the deal to its voters”.

The Germany chancellery has expressed an opinion that the Greek government’s tabled proposal for a six-month extension of the loan agreement is a “great basis for further negotiations”.

German Chancellery spokesperson Steffen Seibert said Greece is interested in receiving help from the EU.

The members of the board governing Greece?s 60 experimental and model schools (DEPPS) tendered their resignation Thursday after a meeting with Education Minister Aristides Baltas, who has pledged to scrap entry examinations for the institutions.

Germany?s Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Thursday Greece?s proposal to extend a loan agreement was insufficient, adding the key question is what reforms Athens? new government was willing to undertake.

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Wednesday welcomed a signal from Greece that it was ready to negotiate after it said it would submit a request to the euro zone to extend a loan agreement for up to six months.

A critical meeting will reportedly take place today in Berlin between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to plan their strategy ahead of the Eurogroup meeting on Monday.
The German government tried to keep the meeting a secret, foreign media say, but Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper published a relevant report yesterday.