Getty Schulz has not ruled out Greece leaving the crumbling Eurozone

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The leader of Germany’s Social Democrat party said in an interview that Greece’s future was dependant on how it implements reforms. Mr Schulz appears to be adopting Angela Merkel’s line on the debt-ravaged country along with that of her hawkish finance minister Wolfgang Schauble in a bid to bag votes. It comes as the former president of the European Parliament faces increased pressure from German voters to prove that he is not soft on Greece and other Eurozones that are swimming in debt.

In order to become leader, he must show that he too will act tough on Greece - just like Mrs Merkel - who is seen as being reliable on fiscal lapses. But it is an uphill battle, as a poll, conducted by the ZDF TV Channel, showed that 34 per cent of likely voters consider Mrs Merkel more trustworthy than her SPD rival Mr Schulz. Mr Schulz is now making several U-turns on policies that he previously championed.

Getty Schulz wants to defy Trump's vision for spending on Nato

One of these was a suggestion of mutualising the eurozone’s debts by issuing eurobonds – an idea that was opposed by Mrs Merkel and which Mr Schulz has now ditched. He said: “The only interesting thing about bonds is James.” He added that he scrapped the idea because it had been made redundant by the creation of the European Stability Mechanism, the euro area’s bailout fund. However, Mr Schulz has remained steadfast on his plans for Nato spending - which could put him at odds with the US president Donald Trump, the FT reports.

Getty Schulz appears to be adopting Angel Merkel’s line on the debt-ravaged country of Greece

The German government is committed to lifting overall German defence spending from 1.2 per cent of GDP to 2 per cent in line with its Nato commitments. But Mr Schulz said he was “not of the view that it has been agreed in Nato that we have to achieve this goal of 2 per cent of GDP”. He said that would mean “more than €20billion or more of additional defence spending a year over the next few years”, which would be a “significant financial burden on Germany”.

He added: “That is certainly not the goal that a government led by me would pursue. “What we need is not a new arms race but disarmament initiatives, and more investment in prevention. That would serve our security better.” The SPD leader appears unwilling to soften Germany’s pro austerity position if he is elected Chancellor next year - as many in the EU had hoped. Mr Schulz, a former bookseller, who does not fit the mould of former Chancellors of Germany, is not going to mess with the policies that Germany has, if elected.