Two thirds of Germans voiced doubt in a poll published on Friday that heavily-indebted Greece is serious in its commitment to pare down its spending in order to receive a bailout and avoid bankruptcy.
Some 27 percent said they believed serious efforts would be made to implement austerity measures hammered out by rival Greek politicians, while 66 percent were sceptical, according to the poll for ZDF public television.
Nearly half of those asked said other eurozone countries should accept that Greece faced bankruptcy without further aid, while 62 percent expect that if that happens, the German economy will suffer as a result.
An earlier poll released Wednesday by the Forsa polling institute for Stern magazine revealed Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats were at their most popular since winning a second term in 2009.
The survey on Greece was conducted by polling institute “Forschungsgruppe Wahlen” for ZDF between February 7 and 9 among 1,272 people.
German lawmakers will vote at the end of the month on the new multi-billion-euro rescue deal planned for Greece, a leading member of Merkel’s party said Friday.
Merkel met the heads of all the parliamentary parties early Friday to report back on efforts to agree on a second bailout to save Athens from bankruptcy, although a concrete deal has yet to emerge.
(http://www.thelocal.de)
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