Greek Fire, Part 7

The German people aren't real happy with this whole "bailing out another country" thing.  With typical German pragmatism, a majority of Germans say Greece should be kicked out of the Eurozone.

The Emnid poll for Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed 53 percent of Germans asked said the European Union should, if necessary, expel Greece from the euro zone.

Athens has struggled to convince investors it is tackling its debt crisis and markets are nervous about a default.

EU leaders discussed the issue last week and offered words of support but failed to outline concrete steps, further unsettling markets. Euro zone finance ministers are expected to discuss Greece again on Monday and Tuesday.

Merkel has adopted a cautious stance on support, saying while Greece will not be left on its own, it is up to Athens to sort out its own problems.

The poll also showed 67 percent of Germans did not want Germany and other EU states to give billions of euros in credit to Greece.

"If we start now, where do we stop?" Michael Fuchs, deputy head of Merkel's conservatives in parliament, told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Solves the problem as far as Berlin's concerned.  Greece on the other hand, well...not so much.  This puts the government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a nasty bind.  They can't bail out Greece: that would lead to a fracture of the German coalition government.  They can't refuse to do so either....that would lead to a fracture of the European Union.

The Greek Fire continues to burn with no end in sight, but it's Germany that may suffer the most damage.