Germany approved second bailout package for Greece

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany kept her strategy for attacking Greece’s debt problems on track with a victory in Parliament yesterday but won the vote only with the help of opposition parties.

Without votes from the Social Democrats and the Green Party, Merkel would not have received the backing she needed from the Bundestag to sign off on the $175 billion Greek rescue package when she travels to Brussels for the summit of European leaders Thursday and Friday.

The vote passed with 496 in favor, 90 against and five abstentions. Although she won by a large margin, Merkel failed to reach the so-called chancellor’s majority — a simple majority from the ranks of the ruling coalition parties.