Merkel says open to talks after Greece referendum

German Chancellor Angela Mer-kel played down prosp-ects of a breakthrough with Greece in the coming days, but said she stood ready to restart talks with the government in Athens after a planned referendum on Sunday.

Speaking on Monday af-ter a meeting of German party and parliamentary leaders, Ms Merkel also criticised the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for failing to compromise with its eurozone partners after receiving what she called a “generous” offer.

Economy minister and vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, standing alongside Ms Merkel, said if Greeks voted against the bailout offer on Sunday, it would be a clear vote against staying in the euro. Ms Merkel stressed Monday that amid the Greek crisis Europe needs the ability to compromise, warning if the “euro fails, Europe fails”, but insisted the bloc must also stick to its principles.

Ms Merkel said that if the “capability to find compromises is lost, then Europe is lost”. However she stressed that Europe’s principles “need to be fought for”, otherwise it could see its image diminished. “Perhaps we could give them up in the short term, maybe we could say ‘let’s just give in for once’,” she said.