Germans vexed by 'stubborn' Greeks and their profligate ways

The debt debacle has confirmed all the fears of the German in the street who always felt that tying the nation's economic fate to profligate southern European nations was asking for trouble.

BERLIN // After 18 months of fruitless attempts to solve the euro crisis, Germans have finally run out of patience with Greece and are starting to feel acute angst about the safety of their personal savings.

The debt debacle has confirmed all the fears of the German in the street who was never happy about ditching the rock-solid Deutschmark, symbol of the nation's post-war prosperity, and who always felt that tying the nation's economic fate to profligate southern European nations was asking for trouble.

It is almost impossible to have a conversation in Germany these days without the talk switching to predictions of doom for the currency and fury at the Greeks, whose government has thrown a big spanner in the works of the latest rescue effort by calling a referendum on it.

"The whole thing with the euro is crazy. It won't be the last currency I see," said Franz Kämmerer, who works in a Berlin bakery and is in his 50s. "The Greeks keep causing us problems. They should never have been let into the euro and it's time they were kicked out."

Germany has come through the crisis virtually unscathed so far but the prospect of currency turmoil, and the growing sense that events are spinning out of control, are particularly unsettling to a nation obsessed with financial security after a century of economic upheaval. As the crisis worsens, a gnawing feeling of insecurity is creeping into their orderly lives, and this poses yet another risk to the euro because it is reducing the government's scope to devote taxpayers' money to tackling it.

As Europe's largest economy, Germany is the biggest single contributor to the rescue measures and has provided €211 billion (Dh1.06 trillion) in guarantees to the enlarged €780bn euro rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.

"Most Germans no longer understand the euro crisis, and they can't fathom the enormous sums involved, but they're afraid of the possible impact on their savings and on public services in Germany," Manfred Güllner, director of the Forsa polling institute, said in an interview.

"When the crisis first started in early 2010, the general view was that we should help out Greece as a European partner. Now people are saying they've had enough of these difficult, stubborn Greeks. Patience with Greece has run out."

Many Germans were unhappy at the sight of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, being portrayed as a Nazi in protest banners on the streets of Athens, where many are blaming Berlin for the radical cutbacks that threaten to cause a decade of economic misery.

In recent months, though, German anger at Greece's spiralling debt had died down and given way to sympathy for ordinary Greeks suffering real hardship as a result of the austerity measures imposed in return for financial aid.

But the referendum decision, which has led to fresh market turmoil and could derail efforts to rescue the currency, has been seen by Germans as the last straw. It has triggered demands for Germany to hold a public vote on whether to go on bailing out Greece.

"Take the euro away from the Greeks!" Germany's biggest-selling newspaper, Bild, roared in a front-page headline yesterday. "Frau Merkel, We Want a Referendum Too!"

Mrs Merkel knows her political future is at stake and that many Germans are unhappy with her performance. She and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, gave George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, a dressing down and an ultimatum at a meeting in Cannes on Wednesday ahead of a summit of leaders of the G20.

They told him Greece would not receive another cent in European aid until it decides whether it wants to stay in the euro zone, and made clear that saving the euro was more important to them than rescuing Greece. "We would rather achieve a stabilisation of the euro with Greece than without Greece, but this goal of stabilising the euro is more important," Mrs Merkel said.

A recent opinion poll conveyed the depth of German pessimism about the euro. Conducted by Forsa last week, before the referendum was announced, it showed that 87 per cent of Germans do not believe the plan agreed by EU leaders last week to increase the firepower of the rescue fund, cut Greece's debt by 50 per cent and recapitalise European banks will resolve the crisis.

It also showed that Mrs Merkel's centre-right coalition was lagging the centre-left opposition by 44 to 35 per cent.

In a measure of growing alarm, Germans have started to dissolve long-term savings contracts and invest in gold.

"The euro was always an unloved child," said Mr Güllner. "If there had been a referendum in Germany on whether to introduce it, it would have been rejected."