The German government expects Greece to stick to the terms of its EU/IMF bailout agreement in the event of a change of government in Athens after the 25 January election, a spokesman for Angela Merkel has said.  However, spokesman Georg Streiter declined to comment on a report in Der Spiegel magazine that said Merkel’s chancellery had shifted its view and now believed the eurozone would be able to cope with a Greek exit if necessary.  “Greece has fulfilled its obligations in the past. The German government assumes it will continue to fulfil its contractual obligations to the troika,” Streiter told Reuters on Sunday.  “Every new government has to abide by the contractual obligations of the previous government.”  The troika overseeing Greece’s €240bn (£188bn) bailout comprises the European Central Bank, the European commission and the International Monetary Fund.  As the eurozone’s paymaster, Germany insists that Greece must stick to a course of austerity and not backtrack on its commitments – especially because it does not want to open the door for other strugglers to relax their reform efforts.  Greece’s woes have also created a political headache for Merkel by helping to boost support for a new rightwing party, Alternative für Deutschland, which taps into German voters’ unease over the cost of eurozone bailouts.  Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that both Merkel and her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, now believe the eurozone has implemented enough reforms since the height of the crisis in 2012 to make a potential “Grexit” manageable.  In addition, the eurozone now has an “effective” bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), another source added. Major banks would be protected by the banking union.  A German finance ministry official would only say that comments made by Schäuble last week remained valid.  “If Greece takes another path, it will be difficult,” Schäuble said last week. “New elections will not change the agreements we have struck with the Greek government.”  Peter Bofinger, on the “wise men” council of economic advisers to the German government, warned against a Grexit.  “There would be many high risks for the stability of the eurozone with such a step,” he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. “It would let a genie out of the bottle that would be hard to control.”  Der Spiegel said Berlin considers a Grexit almost unavoidable if the leftwing Syriza opposition party, narrowly ahead in opinion polls, wins Greece’s election. Syriza wants to cancel austerity measures and a chunk of Greek debt.
Merkel spokesman comments on reports that chancellor believes eurozone would survive Grexit amid Syriza’s lead in pre-election polls