Criticism for German idea that Greece take a euro ‘timeout’

The first big development Friday was the news that German lawmakers, in the wake of their Austrian counterparts, voted 439-119 in favor of opening detailed discussions on the bailout package.

The head of the Eurogroup said there was now a chance to get the Greek economy back on track.

After 17 hours, the two sides finally struck a deal in the early hours of Monday morning, staving off financial meltdown in Greece and a likely exit from the euro zone currency bloc.

“And we can now talk about such possibilities again…”

BERLIN – German government officials have appeared to send mixed messages about their desire for Greece to keep using the euro – and that’s just the way they want it.

Referring to those limits, Merkel told German public broadcaster ARD, “That’s not a normal life, so we have to negotiate quickly” in upcoming talks on a third European bailout of about $95 billion.

Dimitris Vitsas was appointed new alternate defence minister, replacing Costas Isichos, another SYRIZA lawmaker who voted against the agreement.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday reshuffled his administration to fill the vacancies left by three cabinet members who were sacked after voting against the reforms in parliament last week.

Gabriel said it would be wrong to take on risks related to Greece without asking the country to make changes because Italy, Spain and Portugal would then have to receive the same treatment and “the euro zone could not survive that”.

On Wednesday, however, a leaked report from the worldwide Monetary Fund (IMF), another one of Greece’s worldwide creditors, branded the country’s debt “highly unsustainable”, and urged debt relief on a scale “well beyond what has been under consideration to date”, a sharp departure from Germany’s position.

They had to overcome the reluctance of a few states which are not part of the euro zone, beginning with Great Britain, which demanded safeguards if Greece was to default. Schaeuble said he’d quit if he were to conclude that he no longer had a say in Merkel’s government, adding that he wasn’t considering such a move.

Merkel skirted the issue when asked about internal strife, saying only that her coalition and her party would work together going ahead, and that “the finance minister will conduct the negotiations the same way I will”.

The reopening of the banks comes as Europe’s central bank promised 900 million euros in new emergency funding for Greece on Thursday. The French president François Hollande yesterday called for the creation of a euro-zone government and for citizens to renew their faith in the European project, which has been weakened by the Greek crisis.