Political leaders may agree, but readers still clash over Greece

The following comments reflect the views of DW-WORLD.DE readers. Not all reader comments have been published. DW-WORLD.DE reserves the right to edit for length and appropriateness of content.

Greece announces controversial austerity program

The best solution is to have the IMF bail out the Greek government. That way, the costs would be spread across the globe, not concentrated on the EU in general and Germany in particular. Why don't Frau Merkel and the rest of the EU see this? -- Tomas Griffin, US

I see no reason why the EU should bail out the Greeks. When the Greeks themselves start retiring at age 67, start paying their taxes and start paying 22 percent VAT, then and only then should they be given financial support. But in a situation where tax avoidance is the national sport, where VAT is lower than in other EU countries and where people till now have been retiring at 48 (!) I see no reason for helping Greece. -- Mike, Poland

Do not aid these people in any fashion. They are supposed to be a modern state, not Darfur. -- Larry Daniels, US

I am very disappointed with the majority of the German people's opinions and superior attitude toward the Greek people in general. It is well for the German ambassador to Greece to state that the Focus articles are not representative of the German government and/or the German people's opinion, yet all the opinion polls indicate that the majority of the German people feel the same as what is depicted in Focus as well as most of the other German newspapers and magazines. -- Peter Darmos, Australia

I regret and pity my country's fall, but also I want to express my sorrow and pity for German pettiness, nastiness and spite. I'm pretty annoyed by the German cartoons (portraying Greece as a cheating member of the euro family: editor's note), which make mockery of our country's history. I can't say that I am happy about this economic crisis, but I can't stand the German point of view. You can't mock a civilization counting more than 2,500 thousand years like that. Be careful. -- Xenia Kehagia, Greece

Compiled by Stuart Tiffen
Editor: Susan Houlton