Der Spiegel: Germans Don't Trust Merkel to Handle Euro Crisis

Good news and bad for German Chancellor Angela Merkel: Three-quarters of Germans disapprove of her efforts to solve the problems plaguing the euro, according to a poll released Friday. But at least the French trust her more than their own president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

A poll released Friday indicates Germans know little about the current euro crisis -- but are overwhelmingly opposed to the way it is being handled by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the two leaders spearheading efforts to solve the crisis.

The survey of 1,001 Germans conducted for the public broadcaster ARD by pollster Infratest Dimap found that three-quarters of Germans were either not very confident or not at all confident in Merkel's leadership during the euro crisis. Only 22 percent said they had strong faith in her leadership.

Those surveyed had even less confidence in Sarkozy. While 83 percent expressed doubts in his leadership, only 15 percent voiced approval. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,781261,00.html

Despite finding dismal approval ratings on Merkel's handling of the crisis, the same poll found increasing support for her conservative coalition, made up of her center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP). Compared with figures from an Aug. 4 poll, support for the CDU/CSU increased from 32 percent to 34 percent, while the FDP gained one percentage point to reach 5 percent.

At the same time, the Green Party -- which enjoyed a surge in support following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan -- saw its support drop from 23 percent to 21 percent. Likewise, both the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the left-wing Left Party lost a percentage point to reach 27 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Hope the Germans start to see the ineffectiveness of their conservative government.