Greece must help itself because a Grexit or a Grexident is not ruled out, said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble speaking on Austrian television on Thursday.
As the verbal exchange between Schaeuble and Athens continues, the German finance minister spoke about negotiations over the Greek debt in an interview in Austria’s news show Zib 2 saying that, “Greece must implement what it pledged to do. Otherwise, there can’t be any payments from the current [bailout] program.”
Schaeuble said that Greece must help itself, otherwise an accidental exit from the euro zone is not impossible, he answered when asked about that possibility. “As the responsibility, the possibility to decide what happens only lies with Greece, and because we don’t exactly know what those in charge in Greece are doing, we can’t rule it out,” he said.
Europe wants to help Greece, Schaeuble said. The other euro zone countries are willing to provide further aid, but Athens must first honor its agreements, he added.
Politicians in Greece have to explain to the Greek people what needs to be done to get the country out of the difficult situation and not blame others, such as Brussels or Berlin, for Greece’s problems. Otherwise the Greek people won’t accept necessary reforms, Schaeuble said.
“That is a bit the problem, but it can’t be solved by making others scapegoats. Instead one must recognize what is necessary to do,” he said.
Earlier in the week, the German finance minister had said that he is losing his patience with Greece.
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