Chancellor Angela Merkel called on German lawmakers on Friday to back negotiations for a third Greek bailout or face chaos, saying suggestions Athens might temporarily leave the euro wouldn't work, Reuters reported. Merkel was addressing parliament, which is expected to vote by a clear margin for the euro zone to start talks on the new aid programme even though Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has questioned whether it will succeed. Schaeuble himself has suggested that Greece might be better off taking a "time-out" from the euro zone to sort out its daunting economic problems. But Merkel argued for negotiating a new deal with Greece to prevent the country's exit from the euro - the "Grexit" that might undermine the entire currency union. "The alternative to this agreement would not be a 'time-out' from the euro ... but rather predictable chaos," she told the Bundestag lower house. "We would be grossly negligent, and act irresponsibly, if we didn't at least attempt this way."
