For the fifth consecutive year, the debt crisis in Greece does not leave the front pages of German media. It is only logical – besides being the leading economic power in Europe, the Federal Republic is still the most generous lender to Greece within the EU with over 85 million euro. German politicians, experts and the media, however, have always looked at the Greek debt crisis not only in financial and economic terms but also as a test to the values professed in the European Union, especially for European solidarity. Before reaching an agreement in the early hours on Monday, EP President, the German Social Democrat Martin Schulz, said straightforwardly that the negotiations in Brussels would define the future of the EU: "Grexit would mean the end of a united Europe."

The leaders of the 19 Eurozone countries ultimately prevented Greece's exit from the common currency. For the time being at least because the agreement places several mandatory conditions and one of them is voting of the text in the German Bundestag. "It will probably happen on Friday," said the president of the parliament Norbert Lammert of the ruling CDU of Chancellor Merkel, but expressly emphasized that prior to that, "Athens must do its homework." The Chairman of the Social Democratic Party and economy minister in Merkel’s cabinet, Sigmar Gabriel, expects that the Bundestag and other parliaments in the Eurozone will support the agreement with Greece.

Obviously, the ruling grand coalition in Berlin considers the tasks assigned to Athens as executable, but focuses also on the moral consequences for the EU. "Greece must urgently restore the trust of others," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who described the agreement as "an expression of the historical ability of Europeans to compromise." Despite the synergy in the statements made by the coalition partners in Berlin, criticism of the "iron-fist" Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble does not subside. The Deputy Chairman of the Social Democratic Party Ralf Stegner accused Christian Democrat Schaeuble that last week he mistakenly bet on Grexit, albeit as a temporary measure.

After reaching an agreement to resolve the debt crisis in Greece, pending is the adoption of the text by the national parliaments in the Eurozone countries. The grand coalition of Angela Merkel composed of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democrats of Sigmar Gabriel have no reason to worry for the time being. And this time the government will receive the necessary support. But critics in Germany are already counting the votes of the MPs from the ruling coalition, who will vote against. Since the beginning of the Greek crisis in 2010, their number has been growing, albeit at a disparaging pace.

English Rossitsa Petcova