Merkel's Bavarian allies to support Greek extension, seek pledges
BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's conservative allies in Bavaria agreed to support an extension of the Greek bailout in a parliamentary vote expected on Friday, but kept up their tough rhetoric in insisting on precise details from Athens on planned reforms.
Germany's Merkel is rallying lawmakers to approve the extension, despite Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's avowed doubts about the credibility of Athens' latest reform plans, and her right-left coalition has a big enough majority to easily win the vote on extending the rescue for four months.
The Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party to Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), have consistently taken a tougher stance than the chancellor on Greece and include several high profile critics. The party said it would support the extension but wanted a concrete time frame for reforms.
"Money will only flow after the Greeks have fulfilled requirements in detail and put them into practice," said CSU leader Horst Seehofer.
The CSU set a list of conditions it wants to see fulfilled before Greece receives the remaining 1.8 billion euros of aid. These include a clear timetable and details of reforms, and specify that the Greek government can only offer new welfare measures with the support of its international creditors.
The head of the CSU parliamentary group Gerda Hasselfeldt said the vast majority of the party would support the extension, but Peter Gauweiler, an outspoken CSU critic of aid to Greece said there was an overwhelming scepticism.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Editing by Toby Chopra)
