German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged the country's legislators to clear the way for negotiations on a new, third bailout package for Greece, arguing that it would be negligent not to try for a deal.
Merkel told a special session of parliament on Friday that legislators faced "a decision for a strong Europe and a strong eurozone".
She said "we would be grossly negligent, even irresponsible, if we did not at least try this road".
Germany's government has to get a parliamentary mandate for potentially difficult talks on details of the three-year bailout expected to be worth around $93bn.
On Monday, legislators from Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party voted overwhelmingly in a preliminary poll in favour of the Greek bailout deal ahead of a parliamentary ballot on Friday.
At a meeting that lasted five hours, 48 legislators dissented, while about 250 backed the deal.
Members of the Social Democrats, Merkel's coalition partner, also strongly supported the agreement at their own meeting, meaning it will likely pass on Friday.
But Merkel acknowledged substantial political opposition to the bailout.
Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said "Merkel has accepted that there were serious concerns among many in the political class in Germany about the thought of yet another bailout.
"But she said the euro was not just a currency, it was something that summed up Europe. As a consequence, this was metaphorically a price worth paying."
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