Addressing the chamber before the vote, Merkel had argued that “we would be grossly negligent, indeed acting irresponsibly, if we did not at least try this path”.
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The German parliament has given its go-ahead for the eurozone to negotiate a third bailout for Greece, heeding a warning from chancellor Angela Merkel that the alternative to a deal with Athens was chaos.
However Schaeuble assured that he would submit a request to the German parliament to reopen negotiations on the bailout agreement “with full conviction”. The final vote was 439 in favor, 119 opposed and 40 abstentions. Eurozone finance ministers must approve opening those talks, as must Germany’s Parliament in a vote expected Friday.
An opinion poll published by Germany’s state funded ARD television channel yesterday suggested that the public is also growing disenchanted with Ms Merkel’s backing for Greece.
Though the broad outlines of the bailout were agreed on Monday, specific terms will now be thrashed out between Greece and its European creditors.
Thomas Oppermann, parliamentary leader of Merkel’s Social Democratic Party coalition ally, said he’s confident the Greek aid package will pass.
Without fresh credits, Greece will plunge into a “predictable chaos”, she warned.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s image appeared to take a hit this week as she faced accusations of making a young Palestinian refugee cry by telling her Germany can’t let everybody stay, an encounter that came as Merkel was being blamed for strong-arming Greece into accepting more austerity.
The two have different roles – his main job is to look after German taxpayers’ money, while she must consider wider concerns, including expectations overseas that the eurozone resolve its problems and the political implications of a Greek departure from the euro.
“We are doing this for the people of Greece, but we are doing this also for the people in Germany“, Merkel said.
Bailing out Greece hasn’t been popular in Merkel’s conservative bloc and 60 of its lawmakers failed to back her Friday, with another five abstaining.
European finance ministers held a conference call on Thursday morning to agree on a plan for the 7 billion euros in bridging funds to enable Greece to meet its immediate debt service needs and avoid defaulting on a repayment to the ECB next Monday.
He said the “first building block” had been laid for restoring trust, but that “there is still a long way to go”.
The Greek parliament approved the new bailout offer in the early hours of Thursday, although Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had to rely on opposition support after some lawmakers from his left-wing Syriza party rebelled.
Amid bitter recriminations and national anguish, German MPs overwhelmingly backed the latest Greek bailout proposal yesterday. The reforms include raising the value-added tax and pension reforms.
An elderly couple leaves the central fish market in Athens, on today.
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German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said a temporary exit from the euro is still an option for Greece and his government raised the idea that Athens could meet short-term domestic obligations with IOUs, a step many believe amounts to the same thing as a leaving the currency block.
