The Greeks Head for a Scary Meeting With the Germans

The Greeks look to the Germans for more help

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras speaks to members of his conservative party at the parliament in Athens.Photograph by Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images

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By Christopher Power

August 20, 2012 at 9:05 PM UTC

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Antonis Samaras, the prime minister of Greece, heads to Berlin this Friday to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and her advisers. It will be a difficult meeting.

The Germans don’t want to cut the Greeks any more slack. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble said on Aug. 18 that “it is not responsible to throw money into a bottomless pit,” the pit being Greece. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has vowed there would be no “substantial watering down” of Greece’s bailout terms. Merkel has been more conciliatory in tone, but not very specific about what she could do next for Greece. German voters are grumbling about the cost of propping up the Greeks.