It's supposed to be a week of decisions for Greece, but of course it will just be another week of muddling ahead. Fearing her voters in Germany, Merkel's government will resist a debt haircut and the inevitable realization: We're all going to have to pay for Greece.
At some point, even the best tricks -- the aimless chatter of "other solutions," the putting-off of painful decisions -- don't help any longer. At some point, Greece's rescuers in Berlin, Brussels or Paris will have to admit that saving the country is going to cost a lot of money. That is, billions of euros, short more than just interest when it is paid back, as the German government has wanted to make its citizens believe so far. No, the money will simply be a loss for Germany and the other creditor nations. They'll have to make it up some other way, such as raising taxes or cutting expenditures.
There's just one problem, though. This moment of insight and clarity is still a long way off. For the time being, it seems as though the euro-zone countries are just going to keep carrying along as they have been. That is, muddling onward and delaying reality for as long as possible. Angela Merkel is the master of this strategy. The German chancellor wants to push back Greece's necessary payday by at least 10 months. That's because she hopes to be re-elected in the fall of 2013. And in a political campaign, broken promises and billions worth of outstanding credit aren't very popular.
That means when the euro finance ministers meet on Tuesday to free up the next tranche of Greece's second rescue package, they will only resolve as much as is absolutely necessary to get through the next months. They would also rather not have to ask the question as to where the additional nearly €33 billion that it's going to cost by allowing Greece to push back its savings targets again is supposed to come from. And they're less willing than ever to think about long-term solutions, like a debt haircut. But this is cowardly and dishonest. Citizens are only going to grow angrier with their politicians.
The displeasure is already enormous. And it's due not only to the indebted Greeks but also to the German government. Merkel and her coalition partners have long neglected to explain to the people why it makes sense to step in for Europe and Greece.
Read more: Commentary on Germany's Trouble With the Truth About Greece - SPIEGEL ONLINE
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