Merkel is confident Greece will manage to maintain its membership in the eurozone

Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said that she has “always” supported Greek membership of the euro as she said she had “no doubt whatsoever” that Athens would uphold its commitments, as Britain's The Guardian reports.

The German leader also praised Greece for making sacrifices as it abides by the terms of its bailouts from other eurozone governments.

The announcement came days after Der Spiegel reported that Merkel has changed her stance from 2012 when she said there was no alternative to Greek membership of the euro on the grounds that an exit could trigger a wider breakup of the single currency.

Der Spiegel reported that Merkel and her finance minister Wolfgang Schauble are “no longer afraid that a Grexit could result in the collapse of the entire eurozone”.

Merkel said: “I think one has to tell the people and the financial markets that I, as German chancellor and also the federal republic of Germany’s government have always pursued a policy of Greece staying in the eurozone. The commitments we entered into between troika and Greece and Greece and the European member states were abided by and respected."

“Greece has actually made a lot of sacrifices for many, many people in Greece. These were very difficult years. We have come a long way and I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that we will also be able to bring this to a successful conclusion – always guided by the maxim that, on the one hand, the Greeks have to do their own bit and, on the other hand, we have to show solidarity. This was a very successful concept that we have been pursuing and we are going to pursue this also in the future.”

As parliamentary elections are taking place on Jan 25, speculation has intensified about a possible Greek exit from the eurozone. Polls suggest that Alexis Tsipras, leader of the anti-austerity Syriza party, could win the election.

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