ANGELA MERKEL’S popularity has risen to its highest level since 2009, when she was re-elected as the German Chancellor.
Merkel’s support stands at 66 per cent, according to the latest poll.
The figures published by Infratest-ARD also show that 58 per cent of Germans support her strategy for tackling the eurozone crisis, although more than eight out of ten poll respondents said that they are worried that the worst of the crisis still lies ahead.
The parliamentary leader of the main opposition party came in joint second place with German finance minister Wolfgag Schäuble with 61 per cent approval in the opinion poll.
The poll was carried out earlier this week among 1,004 people.
Meanwhile, a group of German economists has criticised the decisions agreed by eurozone leaders at last week’s summit, saying that they risk increasing the exposure of taxpayers to the debts of struggling banks. In an open letter to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, more than 160 economists wrote that the proposed ‘banking union’ means collective liability for the debts of the eurosystem banks.
Merkel rejected their criticism, saying that the proposal is “absolutely not about any additional liability”.
She said that the summit moves are “about better banking supervision, and one can only say that that is urgently necessary”.
- Additional reporting by the AP and AFP
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