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URGENT ¥¥¥ Merkel says 'very pleased' Cyprus deal prevented bankruptcy

March 25, 2013 09:31
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that she was "very pleased" that a bailout agreement had been reached for Cyprus which has averted a financial meltdown. "I am very pleased that a solution for Cyprus was successfully reached last night which meant that the country's insolvency was averted," she said in a statement released by the chancellery. kjm/spm/wai

Merkel ally backs double-digit hike in top tax rate

March 24, 2013 12:22
BERLIN (Reuters) - A senior conservative ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested Germany return to a top income tax rate above 50 percent, setting off a fierce debate within her ruling coalition half a year before the country holds an election. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, premier of the western state of Saarland and a senior figure in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said in a weekend radio interview that Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder had gone too far by reducing the top rate to 42 percent from 53 percent in the 1990s.

Spain's El Pais retracts column comparing Merkel to Hitler

March 24, 2013 10:30
Spanish newspaper El Pais on Sunday retracted a column that compared German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Adolf Hitler and apologised for its "inappropriate" content after sparking an indignant Internet outcry. In the column, published on the paper's website and in its Andalusia regional edition, economist Juan Torres Lopez of the University of Seville wrote that "Angela Merkel, like Hitler, has declared war on the rest of the continent, this time to guarantee (Germany) its vital economic space."

Merkel reportedly warns Europe's patience on Cyprus limited

March 22, 2013 07:45
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that the patience of Cyprus's European partners on efforts to secure an international bailout has its limits, lawmakers of her coalition parties said Friday. Merkel cautioned Cyprus against "exhausting the patience of eurozone partners" during a meeting Friday with the parliamentary group of her junior Free Democratic Party coalition partners, participants told AFP.

Cypriot pension fund nationalisation unacceptable-Merkel quoted

March 22, 2013 04:45
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told lawmakers on Friday the nationalisation of pension funds in Cyprus would not be an acceptable way of plugging a hole in its finances to qualify for an international bailout, parliamentary sources said. Merkel was also quoted by two MPs from her centre-right coalition as saying that debt sustainability and the restructuring of its banks must be core elements of any new Cyprus deal, which she called an matter of "credibility".

Merkel under fire over Cyprus but unscathed: analysts

March 21, 2013 07:45
Chancellor Angela Merkel faces opposition criticism over the "chaotic" Cyprus crisis but polishes her image as champion of German interests in Europe, a key asset in upcoming elections, analysts said Thursday. Politicians from the centre-left parties have laid blame at the conservative Merkel's door as near-bankrupt eurozone member Cyprus races to draw up a bailout plan after MPs rejected a tax grab on savings. "The Cyprus disaster bears her signature," head of the main opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) Sigmar Gabriel told news weekly Spiegel online.

Merkel says it is eurozone's 'duty' to find Cyprus solution

March 20, 2013 08:16
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday the eurozone had a "duty" to work with Cyprus to resolve the debt-mired island's banking crisis. "Cyprus is our partner in the euro area and that is why it is our duty to find a solution together," Merkel told reporters after talks with German lawmakers. "I regret the vote of the Cypriot parliament yesterday but of course we respect this vote. Now we are waiting to see what proposals Cyprus makes to the troika," she added, referring to the group of international creditors.

URGENT ¥¥¥ Merkel says it is eurozone's 'duty' to find Cyprus solution

March 20, 2013 07:46
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday the eurozone had a "duty" to work with Cyprus to resolve the debt-mired island's banking crisis. "Cyprus is our partner in the euro area and that is why it is our duty to find a solution together," Merkel told reporters after talks with German lawmakers. elr/dlc/spm/wai

URGENT ¥¥¥ Cyprus president to hold more bailout talks with Merkel

March 19, 2013 10:32
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has discussed the island's EU bailout with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and is to have more talks with her on Tuesday, a government spokesman said. "Last night the president had a telephone conversation with... Mrs Merkel whom he briefed about the current situation in Cyprus. The president informed the chancellor that the possibility was considered to cut the loan needs through Cypriot funds," Christos Stylianides said in a statement.

Germany's Schroeder hits Merkel on reform record

March 12, 2013 15:30
* Schroeder meets SPD MPs on 10th anniversary of reform drive * Ex-chancellor says Merkel's own reform record is poor * Businessmen worried about higher wages, energy costs By Holger Hansen and Noah Barkin BERLIN, March 12 (Reuters) - In a return to the national political stage, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder criticised his successor Angela Merkel for failing to build on his welfare reforms and raising Berlin's euro zone crisis bill by acting too slow and too late.
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