Germany’s Schaeuble soars in polls amid Greek crisis
BERLIN: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble’s hardline stance in the Greek debt crisis has boosted his approval ratings, a new poll showed yesterday. Seventy percent of respondents said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the work of the veteran minister, a trusted lieutenant of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
It was the best ever result for Schaeuble, 72, said the Infratest Dimap poll for public broadcaster ARD and Die Welt daily. The survey also put support for the Merkel government at 57 percent, just two points off its all-time high. The poll was released as pictures of a grim-looking Schaeuble were seen on campaign posters in Greece with the slogan “for five years he drinks your blood tell him NO” ahead of Sunday’s referendum on EU-IMF bailout conditions. The German poll also asked who was to blame for the escalation in the debt crisis, and 68 percent pointed to the Greek government of left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. On the question of whether Greece should stay in the euro-zone, respondents were split at 45 percent for and 45 percent against, with the rest undecided.
A total of 69 percent said they were concerned or very concerned about the well-being of the Greek people amid the escalating crisis. Sixty percent said they supported the idea of holding a referendum in Greece Sunday, according to the survey of 1,501 people conducted Monday and Tuesday.
Germany’s top-selling newspaper Bild, meanwhile, launched its latest broadside against the Tsipras government by publishing its own “Bild referendum” across its front page. “Should we support Greece with billions more in taxpayers’ money?” it asked in the ballot, urging readers to tick ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ and send in the result. The business daily Handelsblatt meanwhile depicted Tsipras’ position as a desperate blackmail attempt, with a mockup picture of the Greek leader holding a gun to this head, saying “give me the money or I’ll shoot”. —AFP