In the Netherlands, the government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte is expected to face a call for a no-confidence vote from euro-sceptic, right-wing rival Geert Wilders, when parliament debates the bailout programme on Wednesday.
Germany’s parliament has backed the Greek bailout package with 454 lawmakers voting in favour.
The government had promised to cancel the country’s privatisation programme but Tsipras caved in to win a deal on a third worldwide bailout for Greece, worth €86bn.
In a test ballot of conservative lawmakers late on Tuesday – a non-binding vote – a clear majority voted in favour of the bailout.
The size of the “No” vote was slightly smaller than when German lawmakers last month voted to allow Berlin to start negotiating on the third bailout. It was supported by Merkel’s coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the opposition Greens party.
Greece needs the money from global creditors by August 20, when it must repay about $3.5 billion in debt to the European Central Bank.
The Bundestag approved the bailout after a week of hard lobbying from Dr Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
Merkel, oddly enough, is not expected to address the lawmakers.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is mulling whether to call a vote of confidence in his government after a big rebellion among his radical left Syriza party over the bailout.
“But considering the fact that the Greek parliament already approved most of the (stipulated reform) measures, it would be irresponsible not to seize this chance for a new beginning in Greece“, he said to applause from the chamber as Merkel looked on.
Schaeuble is also optimistic that global Monetary Fund’s (IMF) its imprimatur will enable many lawmakers to guarantee the implementation of stringent measures in reforms and budgetary targets. “That’s politically very unacceptable within Europe so I think we’re going to head for quite a significant standoff”, said Simon Smith, chief economist of FxPro.
The decision brings some respite after Greece teetered on the brink of bankruptcy during months of fraught bailout negotiations, which took their toll on the country’s embattled economy and strained relations in the 19-member currency bloc. Tsipras won power only in January and fresh elections would be the third in as many years.
“Our goal is to make Greece get back on its feet as soon as possible”, he said. The ECB has cut emergency liquidity assistance for Greek banks on Tuesday, several sources said. The debt now stands at 312.8 billion euros, the finance ministry said Wednesday. “But it is not that we are seeing any sizeable return of mattress cash, not yet”.