Angela Merkel's legacy is under threat.

(Baonghean.vn) - Regardless of what happens in Athens and Brussels, the German Chancellor will face growing criticism at home in order to resolve the Greek crisis.

On Friday night, millions of Germans watched a politically charged comedy on television called The Icedancer, about a German Chancellor who is forced by her husband to take a vacation to escape the pressure from the conflict in Ukraine and the Greek crisis. On her way to the train station, she is hit on the head by a falling sign and, upon waking up, believes she is living in the time before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

It's unlikely Angela Merkel would want to return to the Cold War era. But the opportunity to turn back time to a point before the Greek euro crisis dominated her chancellorship is something she likely found intriguing this past week. The German leader faced the biggest test of her decade-long tenure in the days leading up to the recent abrupt debate over whether to continue aid to Greece or expel it from the eurozone.

The entire future of Europe seems to rest on the shoulders of the woman who once declared: "If the euro fails, Europe will fail" - and may well add: "and so will I."

Merkel faced a decision between two potentially disastrous scenarios. As Artur Fischer, co-CEO of the Berlin stock exchange, put it: “Either she chooses a third bailout but risks isolating herself domestically throughout the process – and also faces a stagnation for another six months or a year. Or she accepts Greece’s departure from the eurozone (Grexit), with Greece sinking deeper into misery and images of their plight spreading throughout the world, and she will be held accountable for it.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing difficult choices regarding the Greek crisis, potentially jeopardizing her legacy in office. (Image: Internet)

For weeks, Merkel spoke more about Greece than about Germany. She was so familiar with the country's political life that Bernd Ulrich, the political correspondent for the weekly Die Zeit, jokingly remarked that "she could co-govern Athens at any time."

The Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung summarized in an editorial what it described as “Hercule’s task” that has faced her in recent days: “This is Angela Merkel’s moment. She is expected to mediate between the Greeks and other euro partners. She is expected to find a compromise between the interests of 11 million Greeks and 320 million others in the eurozone.”

Now she will have to bring the decision made in Brussels back to the Bundestag, where she will find growing opposition within her own conservative ranks, many of whom are agitated that she has not pushed toward Grexit. They have even refused to consider debt restructuring, something the IMF is adamant about if it remains involved. They all say they represent the voices of angry voters.

And while there's little doubt Merkel could secure some form of bailout through the Bundestag if she wanted to, thanks to the backing of her less senior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, the remaining question is: what would the price be for her?

A rebellion within the party ranks could prove crucial to her future as German Chancellor. Merkel sees her legacy threatened amid speculation that she might consider a fourth term in 2017.

In recent days, an online petition by economist Thomas Piketty, calling on the German government to reduce Greece's debt in a manner similar to the debt relief Germany received to support the country's restructuring after World War II, has had a tremendous impact.

That, and big headlines such as last week's in the New York Times: "Germans forget the postwar history lesson of debt relief in the Greek crisis," accompanied by an article referring to "German hypocrisy" and a photo of the signing of the agreement that effectively halved West Germany's postwar debt in 1953, have angered some Germans.

They argued that, after so much money had been poured into the Greek government and countless promises made without yielding any results, the comparison was unfair.

Fischer, from the Berlin stock exchange, said: “There are many cultural differences at play here, including the fact that we Germans hate uncertainty. We set standards for everything, even the chairs to ensure they will match the tables; we love that certainty, and I always show up on time for meetings. The reason we don’t want to throw money at anything is that we don’t know where the money will go.”

Five years have passed since the crisis erupted. Half a decade of tense and slow discussions with Athens, with leaders whose proposals never convinced Merkel, and years in which she and her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, were repeatedly portrayed as fascists. The final straw for Merkel was Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's announcement of a referendum.

An angry Merkel described Tsipras and his controlling faction within her party as “hardline and ideological” and declared that he “is glaring and steering the country headfirst into a wall.”

Within Germany, criticism of Merkel's Greek policies has been growing. In the newspaper Die Zeit, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer accused her of failing to see the political consequences of the austerity plans and stated that he believed there was currently no solution that would save face for either side. He said: “I blame the German government for this. They have not reasoned or acted politically.”

The former Green Party MP said he wanted Merkel to acknowledge that, as a “wiser and stronger” partner, the German government should be prepared to “admit that its bailout policies have so far failed.” He questioned why it wasn’t proposing debt relief in exchange for structural reforms.

While Merkel is often referred to as the "Queen of Europe," observers have pointed out that, unlike Helmut Kohl, Merkel was not a European lacking passion but rather lacking common sense during this crisis.

Political commentator Ludwig Greven said: “She knows that Germany’s prosperity depends on living peacefully with other countries on the continent, and also working together economically. And this is why she will seek a compromise with Greece – however difficult that may seem.”

Thu Giang

(According to Guardian, BBC)