September 27, 2011
Faced with the prospect of humiliation by her own party, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on Tuesday showed some of the passion for saving the euro that her critics complain had been missing, beseeching German legislators and voters to support aid to Greece for their own good.
As the Greek prime minister, George A. Papandreou, arrived in Berlin for talks, Mrs. Merkel sought to sway public opinion ahead of a vote Thursday in Parliament that some lawmakers have said is her most important legislative test since taking office nearly six years ago.
“If Europe isn’t doing well, then over the medium term Germany won’t do well,” Mrs. Merkel told a business group in Berlin.
But she tempered her remarks by insisting that Germany was “not available” for further steps like jointly issued bonds guaranteed by all euro zone members — an idea that Germany has staunchly resisted.
Critics have accused Mrs. Merkel of failing to show strong leadership and allowing the debt problems of one small Mediterranean country to grow into a global threat that even prompted a tentative offer of aid Tuesday from worried officials in Japan.
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