You will get nothing unless you honour our deal, Germany warns Greece

By Justin Huggler, in Berlin 26 February 2015

Germany expected to approve new Eurozone bail-out deal for Greece on Friday

The Bundestag is expected to pass the deal as Angela Merkel's coalition has a huge majority of 377 Photo: AFP

Germany is expected to approve the new Eurozone bail-out deal for Greece in a parliamentary vote on Friday but has warned that Athens will receive nothing unless it honours its commitments under the deal.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister, said he was “stunned” after his Greek counterpart, Yanis Varoufakis, spoke again of a debt restructuring on Greek radio, and the Athens government indicated it would block plans to privatise strategic assets.

“If the Greeks violate the agreements, then they have become obsolete," a visibly angry Mr Schaeuble said at a meeting to persuade German MPs to support the deal in today’s vote. The meeting in Berlin came after Germany’s biggest-selling newspaper launched a campaign against the Greece deal, printing “NEIN!” across an entire inside page, and encouraging readers to take selfies holding the page up and send them in for publication.

“No more billions for greedy Greeks,” the newspaper added, in only slightly smaller print. The page was printed in the blue and white of the Greek flag, instead of Bild’s more usual red and white.

Earlier, Mr Varoufakis said in an interview with Charlie Hebdo: “If you think you would do well to bring down progressive governments like our then prepare for the worst."

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"Mr Varoufakis had not done anything to make our lives easier," Mr Schaeuble said ahead of the meeting in Berlin, at which he had to persuade German MPs to support the deal.

Despite his efforts, 22 MPs from Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat party indicated that they intended to defy the party whip and vote against the deal.

The Bundestag is expected to pass the deal – Mrs Merkel’s coalition has a huge majority of 377 – but such a large rebellion would be an indication of the scale of resentment in Germany.

There is concern in Germany that the Greek government agreed on the terms of the new deal in Brussels only to renege on them at home.

The Syriza government has said that it will cancel the privatisation of Piraeus port and block the sale of Greek airports in its current form. It has also indicated that it will not privatise its 51pc stake in the country’s power utilities.

“What’s the bet the Greeks will be back in four months?” Die Welt newspaper asked.

“The Greeks themselves seem to have absolutely no intention of repaying the money,” Bild said in an editorial launching its “Nein!” campaign against the new bail-out deal.

You will get nothing unless you honour our deal, Germany warns Greece - Telegraph