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Majority of Germans say Greece should leave euro

Greek coins at an art exhibition in Germany
Greek coins at an art exhibition in Germany

More than half of Germans believe Greece should leave the eurozone, according to a poll published this morning.

The Politbarometer survey released by public broadcaster ZDF found 80% believe Greece is not acting in a reliable manner in its negotiations with eurozone partners.

The proportion of respondents who think Greece should stay in the currency union has fallen to 40% from 52% two weeks ago, while 52% now believe it should leave, up from 41%.

Only 11% now think the left-wing government in Athens is behaving in a trustworthy way in talks with its EU partners.

And only 14% believe the Greek government will actually implement the austerity and reform measures it has committed to, while 82% doubt it.

80% believe Greece should get no more bailout funds if it fails to follow through on its pledges, according to the survey conducted by the Mannheim Research Group.

The poll also confirmed Chancellor Angela Merkel as the country's most popular politician, followed in second spot by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

Ms Merkel and Mr Schaeuble have championed tough austerity and reform demands in return for aid to Greece, making them hate figures for many in Greece as the country has chafed under cutbacks and high unemployment.

Politbarometer surveyed by telephone 1,266 randomly selected voting-age Germans between Tuesday and yesterday.

EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said this morning that he was unhappy with a lack of progress in talks on Greece's bailout.

However, but insisted there was no chance of a failure that could drive the country out of the eurozone.

"I am not satisfied by the developments in the recent weeks.

"I don't think we have made sufficient progress, but we will try to push in the direction of a successful conclusion of the issues we have to deal with," he said ahead of talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Greek economy grew by 0.8% last year - estimate

Greece's economy grew by 0.8% in 2014, the country's statistics service ELSTAT said today in its first estimate for the full year. 

GDP in real terms amounted to €186.5 billion compared with €185.1 billion in 2013. 

Athens and its EU/IMF lenders had projected growth of 0.6% for 2014 as a whole. The official estimate by the previous government's finance minister was 0.7%.