ATHENS: Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is testing Angela Merkel’s patience, risking the best hope for keeping his country in the euro area.
While the German chancellor says she wants to keep the euro intact, Tsipras is probably overestimating her willingness to compromise at an emergency summit called to break the deadlock on Greek aid, according to a person familiar with the government’s thinking.
Her stance is backed by a chancellery estimate that the financial impact on Germany of a Greek default would be limited to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) a year, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing government deliberations. As Merkel hardens her tone, she’ll take those calculations into the special summit with Tsipras and 17 other euro-area leaders in Brussels on Monday.
