Greek Talks Create Strain in Athens and Berlin

The Greek economic crisis is starting to generate political friction in Germany as Berlin struggles to find a balance between its interest in keeping Greece in the eurozone and its pledge to protect taxpayer money. On March 31, the resignation of a prominent conservative German lawmaker highlighted the extent to which any deal between Greece and Germany will be hard for Berlin to sell at home.

Domestic resistance to EU integration is not new in Germany. But six years into the crisis, opposition to spending taxpayer money on the European periphery is growing among German institutions and political leaders. Greece and its lenders will reach an agreement in April, but the tension in Germany will complicate negotiations after June, when Greece's temporary bailout extension ends and Athens and its lenders will have to return to the negotiating table, this time to discuss a more comprehensive and politically costly deal. Meanwhile, Athens will experience its own divisions because a new bailout program would also face resistance in Greece.