EU left guessing as Merkel blazes her own path

Judas, talking tough, or electioneering?

Which best describes Iron Lady Angela Merkel and the German chancellor’s thunder-bolt statement to journalists on funding legacy bank debt when the two-day EU summit ended?

Senior EU sources were inclined to play down her declaration, saying there was a long list of U-turns by Germany over the last two-and-a-half years. Others feared that markets might take her seriously and send the price of debt for weak countries soaring.