Article content

It took a few simple truths from Germany’s Angela Merkel on the basics of euro-area crisis management to pacify the combative new government in Athens.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or How Germany gave Greece a reality check on EU politics to secure bailout extension Back to video

It was political brinkmanship of the highest order, pitting Greeks against Germans in a battle between machine-like Teutonic rationalism and the fiercely independent spirit of Hellenic democracy.

Reams upon reams of newsprint (or the digital equivalent) were spent debating who’s right, who’s wrong, and whether this spelled the end of the European Union. Then, earlier this week, after weeks of tense negotiations, eurozone finance ministers agreed to terms that would extend a €240-billion bailout program for Greece’s battered economy by another four months. Cue the chorus.



Continue reading.

[/np_storybar]

The chancellor explained to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras what an aide in her office called reality. There wasn’t much time to reach the deal needed to keep Greece afloat and Germany wasn’t going to budge, Merkel told him in a 50-minute phone conversation on Feb. 19. It was their first substantive exchange since he’d won election Jan. 25.