Germany doesn’t like Greece to be unpredictable. Merkel said that was one reason why they couldn’t allow Greece to have a messy default. It couldn’t be controlled and no one would know what would happen. It might start a dangerous domino effect and cause an unravelling of the euro. Not only Greece would default but other countries such as Portugal, Ireland, Spain, and maybe even Italy. So it’s up to the Euro Zone to work with Greece to prevent the first default.
Merkel even rebuked her Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schauble, for saying that maybe they should let Greece go. She also disagreed with the Free Democrats who said they ought to start an insolvency procedure for Greece. Needless to say she rejected the ideas of the Conservative Bavarian Party that insisted Greece be thrown out of the Euro Zone.
Merkel thinks that unity, not disunity, is the key to advancing Germany’s interests.