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At a briefing with reporters after a tense
meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Greece on Friday,
Schaeuble was asked if euro zone finance ministers were working
on a "Plan B" in case negotiations on funding with cash-strapped
Athens fail.
"You shouldn't ask responsible politicians about alternatives,"
Schaeuble answered, adding one only need to use one's
imagination to envisage what could happen.
He indicated that if he were to answer in the affirmative that
ministers were working on a Plan B -- what to do when Greece
runs out of money and cannot pay back its debt -- he could
trigger panic.
To explain his position, he drew a parallel with the secrecy
that was necessary during the initial stage of planning for
German reunification in 1989.
"If back then a minister in charge -- I was one of them -- would
have said beforehand, we have a plan for reunification, then the
whole world probably would have said: 'The Germans have gone
completely crazy.'"
At the ministers' meeting on Friday, Greece was sharply
criticized for dragging its feet on preparation of reforms that
would unlock funding from its international lenders even though
Athens is quickly running out of cash and without new lending
will not be able to service its debts.
The finance minister of Slovenia suggested at that meeting that
because the talks, that have been going on for three months,
were leading nowhere, perhaps euro zone ministers should
starting discussing a Plan B -- what happens if Greece defaults.
(Additional reporting by Caroline Copley, writing by Jan
Strupczewski, editing by Robin Emmott)
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