German parliament to approve Greek aid

His delegates will vote with an "overwhelming majority" in favor of Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble's motion, declared Volker Kauder, parliamentary leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, a day ahead of the Bundestag ballot. The result of a test vote among his ranks: of 311 Christian Democrat and Christian Social Union lawmakers, only 22 voted "no" and 5 abstained.

At the same time, Kauder underlined that approval of the extension of the bailout program was by no means a victory for the new government in Athens, whose recent "loutish comments" have once again stirred anger in Berlin. "The new government is using a kind of language which, up to now, has not been common in Europe," the CDU politician said.

His words were aimed primarily at Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, whose recent comments about a further "debt haircut" to Athens' benefit boded ill. "Judging from what we heard from the Greek finance minister only yesterday, the Greek government's willingness to reform is absolutely zero," grumbled CSU politician Peter Ramsauer. Speaking to DW, he predicted that a large number of his fellow lawmakers, who are ready to approve the motion on Friday, will regret having done so as early as June, because "the worst is still to come." Therefore, Ramsauer concluded, "it's better to make a painful break than draw out the agony."

The recalcitrant Bavarians

The majority of the conservative bloc's "no" votes will, like Ramsauer's, come from the Bavarian CSU. But many other delegates from the conservative camp will only grudgingly heed their chancellor's call, because they're not prepared to trust the left-wing government in Athens.

The Social Democrats, with their 193 delegates, were much more relaxed. In the wake of their test vote, parliamentary leader Thomas Oppermann announced that the SPD faction would vote unanimously to pay out the remaining 15 billion euros ($16.8 billion) from the current bailout program to Athens.

This secures a comfortable majority for Schäuble's motion, especially since the opposition Greens and maybe even some Left party delegates will back the extension of financial aid. The Left party had thus far rejected aid packages for Greece because of what it called "extortionate" conditions.

SPD believe in Athens' willingness to reform

Oppermann avoided polemic remarks on the subject of the Athens government. Asked what he thought about Varoufakis' statement regarding another partial Greek debt relief, he replied curtly, "There will be no debt haircut, which is why we are not worried at all."

The SPD expects the Athens government to specify its reform proposals, and that they will ultimately have the desired effect. Oppermann revealed that there was a chance to revise the provisions linked to the EU and IMF aid package, which Greece's new government had criticized, but only by providing solid proposals that could actually be implemented in practice: "If this new government sets out to eradicate corruption, nepotism, and patronage in Greece, it has our full support."

The eurogroup, which includes Greece, had agreed on Tuesday (24 February) to extend the current bailout program - which expires at the end of February - by four months. Athens is to receive money depending on progress with reforms.

In return, the Greek government has promised - among other things - to combat tax evasion, further privatization of state property and a cutback on early retirements. EU Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are going to monitor the efficiency of those measures - albeit no longer as the "Troika", a name loathed in Greece.