Roundup: German parliament approves third bailout program to Greece

The German parliament approved the third bailout program to Greece on Wednesday, voting an overwhelming "Yes" to offer Greece a fresh aid to keep it afloat in the eurozone despite a huge revolt from Chancellor Angela Merkel's party.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the new bailout was an opportunity that Greece must seize for the country's "new beginning".

A total of 454 lawmakers voted in favor of the bailout on Wednesday, 113 opposed and 18 abstained, paving road for the disbursement of up to 86 billion euros (about 95.12 billion U.S. dollars) to Greece which urgently need the money to avoid bankruptcy.

In a 20-minute speech addressed ahead of the vote, Schaeuble asked lawmakers to support the bailout as it was "in the interests of Greece and Europe."

"The decision on a further bailout program for Greece is not easy... I was struggling with the decision no less than anyone else," said Schaeuble, who had previously openly doubted the effectiveness of the new aid and suggested an option of temporary exit of Greece from the eurozone.

Germany was the biggest contributor to the previous two rounds of bailout programs worth 240 billion euros for Greece since 2010. According to the agreement between Greece and its international creditors, the debt-ridden country would receive the fresh aid only if harsh austerity and reform measures including tax hikes, pensions cuts and privatization of state assets were undertaken.

Considering Greece's failure to make sufficient reforms in the past five years, people in Germany doubted whether Greece would ultimately meet its commitments this time. In the vote on Wednesday, 63 members of Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU union joined oppositions and voted against the bailout, and more than a month earlier when 60 members rejected even negotiations on the program.

Schaeuble, a veteran politician in the union, said there was no guarantee that the third bailout would work, but since a large part of reform measures were already adopted by the Greek parliament, "it would be irresponsible not to seize the opportunity for a new beginning in Greece."

"The chance is given. Whether it will be used will be decided by the Greeks alone," the minister said.

HAIRCUT NOT POSSIBLE

Germany's nod came after Austria, Spain and Estonia gave their approvals on Tuesday. Lawmakers in the Netherlands were also expected to greenlight the bailout on Wednesday.

Once all national procedures were completed, 13 billion euros among the first tranche of 26 billion euros would be disbursed to Greece for its pressing bills including a repayment of 3.2 billion euros to the European Central Bank on Thursday.

The remaining disbursement would be released depending on review results of reforms in Greece.

The role of International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the bailout was one of the sticking points in debates. European countries wish to keep the Washington-based fund on board to share their burdens, while the IMF said it would only decide whether to participate in October when the first review on Greek reforms was made.

Schaeuble said on Wednesday that it was essential for the Germany that IMF participated in the bailout due to its expertise, and there was no doubt that IMF would join in if conditions were met.

However, he reiterated that a write-off of Greek debt, which IMF said was necessary to resolve Greece's crisis, was not possible as it was against the treaty of the eurozone.

"The debt sustainability can be achieved without haircut," he said, echoing Merkel's view expressed over the weekend that debt relief for Greece could be made via extending debt maturities and reducing interest rates, but not with a haircut. Endit