Whether this is more economic sabre-rattling or not, Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is not making any Greek friends this morning. During a radio interview on Deutschlandfunk, Schaeuble exclaimed that he was against a deal "just for the sake of a compromise," and lashed out that "I feel sorry for the Greeks. The new Greek government behaves irresponsible." As Reuters reports [6], Schaeuble remains "very sceptical" and nobody wants to give Greece any more money "without guarantees," which is odd because within the last year - trend-chasing asset managers had appeared willing to throw good money after bad at it until now.
- *SCHAEUBLE: GREEK GOVERNMENT HASN'T MOVED
- *SCHAEUBLE SAYS GREEK PROGRAM MUST BE FULFILLED
- SCHAEUBLE SAYS: WHAT I HEARD SO FAR DIDN'T STRENGTHEN MY OPTIMISM ABOUT GREECE
Asked if the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers would find a solution for Greece's debt problems, Schaeuble told Deutschlandfunk: "From what I've heard about the technical talks over the weekend, I'm very sceptical, but we will get a report today and then we'll see."
Schaeuble said Germany did not want Greece ot leave the euro zone, but that the new government in Athens had to fulfil the core conditions of its bailout programme and that it was not about finding a compromise deal "just for the sake of a compromise".
"The problem is that Greece has lived beyond its means for a long time and that nobody wants to give Greece money anymore without guarantees," Schaeuble said, noting that Athens had to stick to agreed reforms to become competitive.
Schaeuble added that the new Greek government was behaving "quite irresponsibly" right now and that it was no help to insult others who have supported the country in the past.
Given this sentiment it is hardly surprising that...
A Greek leftist newspaper close to the ruling party in Athens published a cartoon last week which showed Schaeuble in a Nazi uniform.
[7]
He is quoted saying "we insist on soap from your fat" and "we are discussing fertilizer from your ashes", references to the fate of Jews in Nazi death camps.
* * *
And finally, Schaeuble leaves us with this...
"as long as the Greek government doesn't want a programme I don't have to think about options."
So to summarize where we stand - Greece "isn't bluffing" and "won't cross red lines" ... and the rest of Europe is saying forget about it then.
