While speaking to the parliamentary group of the her ruling CDU / CSU party, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared she was “astonished” by Alexis Tsipras’ request for debt relief.
According MPs present, the German Chancellor emphatically said “nein” to Greece on any debt relief request.
“The responsibility is on Greek side,” she said, speaking from the meeting of the CDU / CSU in the German lower Parliament (Bundestag).
According to Merkel, the low interest rates that Greece pays to service its debt and the fact that the country will not pay interest to is euro zone lenders until 2020, don’t really indicate an urgent need for debt relief.
She further stressed that the last installment of a bailout cache will be released by the end of February, but only if the Greek government honors the country’s commitments.
In any case, according to Reuters, the German Chancellor said she will wait for the Greek Prime Minister’s proposals.
