Merkel: No Shared Debt Liability as Long as I'm Around

Germany's Angela Merkel was quoted as telling a meeting of one of the parties in her coalition on Tuesday that Europe would not have shared total debt liability "as long as I live."

The chancellor said there would be no shared liability of debt in Germany either - after her government agreed plans with federal states to issue joint "Deutschland bonds" - in comments reported by participants in a meeting with the Free Democrats (FDP), junior partners in her centre-right coalition.