The German Parliament has overwhelmingly approved the Greek application for an extension of the loan agreement, as decided at last Friday’s Eurogroup in Brussels. In total 542 MPs voted in favor of the application, 32 voted against and 13 were absent from the vote.
With the CDU and CSU having already decided to support the Greek application, the approval was never questioned. The SPD and Greens also supported the application, as did a number of Linke MPs.
The Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble insisted that “the decision was not easy” and that recent reports “did not make it easier«, while maintaining that it remains to be seen if the Greek government will uphold its commitments. He further explained that the application was not for more money, but time t complete the program.
Each speaker who took the stand expressed their reservations, either over Athens’ resolve (such as the Christian Democrats) or the effects of the policy that is being implemented in Greece (Greens and Linke).
The Social Democrat’s Axel Schäfer, who accused German daily Bild for launching a “campaign” against Greece and denounced the newspaper for its inflammatory stance. He also noted that “the threats of exclusion from the Eurozone and talks of a Grexit” were “nonsense”, arguing that a Grexit would not only destroy Greece, but the European Union as well.
