Merkel urges German lawmakers to back Greece

"It was always Germany and the German government that warned again and again the illusion of fast and simple solutions," Merkel told lawmakers. "We continue to warn against that."

Opposition Social Democrat Peer Steinbrueck shot back that "this strategy of buying time has failed because times have got worse."

Underlining unease in Merkel's center-right coalition, the weekly Der Spiegel on Sunday quoted Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich as arguing that Greece would have better chances of "regenerating and becoming more competitive" outside the 17-nation eurozone.

"I'm not talking about throwing Greece out, but about creating incentives for an exit that they can't refuse," he added, according to the report.

But Friedrich said Monday that he would back the second bailout and insisted he had only been talking about "what alternatives there are if the possibility of making Greece competitive inside the euro were to fail."