With a Greek payment to the ECB due tomorrow, there was no doubt that Germany's parliament would ratify the Third Greek bailout, and the only question was whether political opposition to a Greek rescue would be larger or smaller than expressed in the last such Bundestag vote on July 17. Sure enough, following a speech by Schauble urging his fellow MPs to give Greece a "chance for a new start", moments ago the German parliament approved the third bailout with 454 votes for, 113 against - of which 63 were Merkel's lawmakers - and 18 abstentions.
Curiously, the No votes declined compared to to the last such vote on July 17. Here is the comparison:
- August 19: Yes 454; No 113 (63 from Merkel's block); Abstain 18
- July 17 [4]: Yes 439; No 119 (60 from Merkel's block), Abstain 40
- February 27 [5](Greek bailout extension vote): Yes 542; No 32; Abstain 13
And with that the Third Greek bailout is sealed, and Europe can resume paying Greece so it can promptly repay Europe, and perpetuate the can kicking cycle for a few more months, until Greece once again realizes virtually none of the money will make its way into the Greek economy [6], and a new political crisis re-emerges.
