Merkel says permanently fixing euro zone crisis vital for Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel will tell Germans their fate is so closely entwined with the European Union that it is imperative to come up with answers on how to permanently resolve the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis. In an advance text of the traditional New Year's Eve address that she will deliver on Tuesday evening, Merkel said Germany had a lot of work to do to maintain its own economic strength. Merkel, who was recently re-elected to a third term, said major goals were to keep working to improve Germany's budget balance and to make a successful transition from reliance on nuclear and fossil fuel energy to more renewable energy. "We all know that the progress of our country is as dependent as ever on making headway in Europe and on enduringly overcoming the sovereign debt crisis in earnest," Merkel, 59, said in the address, to be aired on public TV networks.

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