It’s a spectacle that Germans are getting tired of: southern European protesters burning their flags and waving placards comparing Chancellor Angela Merkel to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, all in reaction to Berlin’s insistence on reforms and austerity in return for bailout funds.
And it’s enough to make people such as Berlin businessman Horst Freiberg, who never felt much love for the euro currency, pine more than ever for the return of the German mark.
“I’d immediately vote for a party that wants to abolish the euro,” said Freiberg, who has run a small business selling ink stamps in central Berlin for more than 40 years. “How can you have one currency with banana republics like Cyprus and Greece? And they always accuse us of being Nazis. It’s sick.”
Such sentiments are still the exception in Germany, where a sense of obligation to help fellow Europeans in distress is rooted in shame for the crimes of the Third Reich. But a new political party hopes to capitalize on simmering fears that the euro crisis could deepen and drag down Europe’s biggest economy. It aims to garner enough votes from people like Freiberg in September elections to reach the 5 percent minimum needed for seats in Parliament.
Called Alternative for Germany, the main goal of the party founded by academics and economists is the “orderly dissolution” of the euro. The stance puts the party in sharp opposition to Merkel’s position that there can be no Europe without the preservation of the single currency, with her repeated insistence that “if the euro fails, Europe will fail.” While still a fledgling movement, the new party could hurt Merkel by sapping support from her main coalition partner _ which she has relied on for a stable government.
“Because of the euro, people in southern Europe don’t hesitate to express their disgust toward Germany, using old Nazi comparisons,” party founder Bernd Lucke said Sunday in a speech to about 1,500 cheering Alternative For Germany members at the party’s founding congress in Berlin.
“The euro was a failure and it would be bad if we continue to believe in this fairy tale,” he said. “If the euro fails, Europe doesn’t fail.”
Alternative for Germany wants to introduce Swiss-style national referendums so voters can have a say on important matters _ including economic rescue packages. The party congress, at Berlin’s upscale Intercontinental Hotel, plans to adopt a program and vote for a party board on Sunday.
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FRANKFURT—Germany's top central banker warned that Europe's debt crisis would take as much as a decade to overcome, dismissing the view expressed by some political leaders that the worst of the crisis is over.
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Jens Weidmann speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in Frankfurt on March 12.
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In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann signaled that the European Central Bank could reduce interest rates if incoming economic and inflation data suggest it is warranted. But he warned that such a move wouldn't turn around the euro bloc's economic fortunes, instead pinning responsibility on elected leaders to find ways to kick-start growth and channel money to small businesses.
Mr. Weidmann praised the agreement between Cyprus and its international lenders for a €10 billion ($13.18 billion) bailout that includes steep losses for large depositors of Cypriot banks. Though the deal isn't a blueprint for others, it established the principle of a "pecking order" for stakeholders of banks to bear the costs of their investment decisions, he said.
The FBI investigation into the Boston Marathon bombings appeared to gather pace on Wednesday with reports of a breakthrough in the hunt for the suspect behind the attack, which killed three people and injured almost 200 others.
The mayor of Boston said that a significant lead had been provided by video footage recorded by a department store security camera. But the FBI denied reports by CNN and the Associated Press that an arrest had been made as a result of the images.
Forensic investigators said they had found the lid of a pressure cooker believed to have been used to make one of the bombs on a rooftop near the finish line of the marathon, where the blasts occurred. FBI photographs indicated possible fragments of an improvised cooker bomb. The pictures show twisted parts of a metal casing, wires to a small box, a rechargeable battery and a circuit board.
Schäuble: we should stick with the euro
Schäuble's final message to Germany is that the country would be worse off if it quit the euro and returned to the Deutschemark (a policy favoured by its newest political party, Alternative für Deutschland).
There's no chance of Cyprus being given more than €10bn in loans from the EU and the IMF, says Schäuble.
That's follows leaked documents earlier this month which suggested the total cost of the programme is now €23bn, not €17bn (although the situation is still unclear).
Schäuble: contagion risk from Cyprus
There is a serious risk of contagion sweeping through Europe if Cyprus is not rescued, Schäuble says, as he urges the Bundestag to back the package (as we expect them to do).
Spain and Italy could both have been hit, he adds.
Wolfgang Schäuble opened the debate by telling the Bundestag that the situation in the eurozone had improved during 2013.
The euro crisis is clearly causing less uncertainty in the financial markets than a few months ago, he argued.
And Schäuble insisted that Europe was right to bail out Cyprus, due the "dramatic" situation the island found itself. Without help, the Cypriot government would have defaulted on its loans, he warns, spreading more alarm through the eurozone and beyond.
Does anyone else feel really uncomfortable about one country's future being debated in this way by another?
Does anyone else feel really uncomfortable about one country's future being debated in this way by another?
Here are some of the key quotes from the Bundestag debate:
Finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble:
Step by step we are winning back confidence. If you look at the markets, there is still nervousness and uncertainty. But it is considerably less than three years, two years or one year ago.
The aid for Cyprus secures the successes we've already achieved in the euro zone. We must prevent the problems in Cyprus from unleashing new problems in other euro zone countries.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the opposition SPD, on theoriginal plan to tax all savers in Cyprus:
Mr. Schäuble, whether you asked for this or simply joined others in supporting it, it was a huge mistake. It stoked fear and insecurity in Europe.
Germany approves Cyprus rescue deal
The Bundestag has approved the bailout of Cyprus.
A total of 487 German MPs backed the package, with just 102 against. There were also 13 abstentions.
Germany approves Cyprus rescue deal
The Bundestag has approved the bailout of Cyprus.
A total of 487 German MPs backed the package, with just 102 against. There were also 13 abstentions.
Schaeuble-most Germans see now that 'we're on the right path'. We would be worse off without the € (though I think me means at this level)
Yes, I feel uncomfortable with it. Because apparently, there are only a few democracies left in Europe, and Germany is one of them.
Belgium has agreed to the ESM, agreed to the fiscal pact, agreed to each and every bailout without ANY meaningful debate either in parliament or in the press.
That makes watching democracy (light) in action in another country painful to watch.
Note, however that the debate in the Bundestag is viewed by the Sueddeutsche as just rubberstamping. Check out the reactions to the opinion, if you read some German. The article strongly makes the case that law and democracy have been thrown out of the window in the bailouts.
Bei der Euro-Rettung entwickelt sich ein hochgefährliches Prinzip: Je mehr Geld im Spiel ist, umso weniger gelten rechtliche Regeln. Am Donnerstag stimmt nun der Bundestag über die Zypern-Hilfe ab. Weil die Folgen eines Neins unabsehbar wären, können die Parlamentarier das Rettungspaket nur noch abnicken. Das ist nicht recht.
You also need an automatic fiscal transfer union as well. There is effectively zero chance of that happening in the ezone.
This year, no. This is the end of the road. There have been proposals coming from Germany - Merkel is officially supporting political union at the end of a long process - and from France - Moscovici suggesting common unemployment subsidies from dedicated EZ tax, hence an automatic fiscal transfer.
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