Germany’s Schaeuble says must give Greece chance for new start

The final vote was 454-113, with 18 politicians choosing to abstain, following concern that Chancellor Angela Merkel could face dissent from conservatives in her ruling bloc.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged lawmakers to back a third bailout for Greece in a vote on Wednesday, saying while there were no guarantees of success, it would be irresponsible not to give Greeks the chance for a new start.

Support from parties including the Social Democrats, Merkel’s junior coalition partner, and the opposition Greens means approval of the bailout is not in doubt.

Greece will now receive the funds it needs to meet its liabilities for the next three years, removing the spectre of “Grexit” from financial markets for the time being.

And yet on Tuesday evening, the 311 CDU conservative bloc had a “test ballot” on the bailout, which confirmed over 60 “neigh” and abstention votes (56 + 4).

“If you run your ahead into the wall twice it might be worth looking for a door and this case its called ‘Grexit, ‘” said Klaus-Peter Willsch, a prominent conservative critic of the bailouts.

The “no” votes reflected widespread scepticism in the German electorate of the new bailout, which was the culmination of six months of acrimonious negotiations that almost resulted in Greece crashing out of the eurozone.

Under the terms of the deal, Greece has to make further spending cuts and tax increases and implement big reforms to its economy.

Gabriel called the prospects of stabilizing Greece economically “higher than in the last five years”. Of those not present for Wednesday’s decision, three had previously voted against extending further loans to Athens.

Syriza originally came to power in January promising to stand against austerity measures, but Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras subsequently agreed to a new bailout agreement after months of increasingly bitter talks between Greece and its creditors threatened to break down and potentially lead to a Greek default and its exit from the eurozone.

While the normally hardline Mr Schaeuble has publicly thrown his weight behind the deal, there remains deep unease in Germany over the third bailout.

The government has been rumored to be considering either early elections or calling a confidence vote since Tsipras faced a party rebellion over a bailout vote in parliament last week. [ID:nL5N10U16E] The International Monetary Fund is only due to decide on whether to participate in the bailout in October, when Athens’ creditors hold a first review of progress under the new bailout. The Greek government’s approval was announced on Monday evening in the government’s official gazette, but a Fraport spokesman said that he doesn’t expect the deal to be signed until the end of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal.