Germany is becoming relaxed about Grexit – perhaps too relaxed | Charles Grant

Many EU member states and the US still fear the consequences of Greece leaving Europe. They need to get their voices heard in Berlin

In Berlin, views on Greece's possible exit from the eurozone are shifting. "We have never been closer to a Grexit, and we are close," said a senior official. The last time a Greek departure looked likely, in 2012, Angela Merkel worried that it would provoke panic in financial markets and pulled back from the brink. This time, Germany's leaders think a Grexit would not destabilise the eurozone.

Merkel's officials say that she would be willing to compromise with Greece - if prime minister Alexis Tsipras, whose Syriza party was elected in January, came up with a serious reform programme. Germany wants his socialist government to commit to fighting corruption, improving tax collection, strengthening fiscal discipline, modernising labour markets and attacking vested interests. But three months after being elected, Tsipras seems unwilling or unable to do any of these things.

German officials are remarkably sanguine about the impact of a Grexit on the rest of the eurozone

Related: Greek eurozone exit edges closer as markets brace for Athens default

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