the german -- a good buy norbert rottgen.his so-called butcher bosnian is part of a tribunal. ♪ >> all across europe this wednesday, political leaders are bracing for what could be an emergency exit of greece from the eurozone. >> the german chancellor, angela merkel, has from repeated she hopes that greece will keep the euro. >> in athens, an interim prime minister has been appointed to lead the government until new elections next month. greeks themselves seem to think their days of spending euros are numbered. >> some analysts are talking about a run on the country's banks. since monday, greeks have withdrawn almost 1 billion euros. our coverage begins in athens. >> the newly appointed prime minister panagiotis pikrammenos with president karolos papoulias. the government is on hold. there's no mandate to take decisions. he has to oversee new elections. that is a heavy enough birding, he admits. greece faces a landmark decision. the election is now a referendum on whether the country keeps the euro or leaves. >> some careful

environment minister norbert rottgen has to go. energy remains a central policy issue. >> developing alternative energy sources are essential goal of this legislature time. the groundwork has been laid, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. >> once a rising star within the party, rottgen made too many mistakes in his campaign. he chose the wrong issues, failed to engage voters, and claimed the regional poll was really a vote on merkel. peter altmaier has been nominated to replace him, a parliamentary whip from merkel's conservatives. he has the chancellor's trust. >> i am quite sure he will apply himself fully to the new task and ours will be a successful cooperation. >> the transition from nuclear power to renewable energy sources is likely to be a key issue in the next national election. so peter altmaier will have his work cut out for him. >> our political correspondent is on the the story and joins us from parliamentary studios. a very unusual step for the chancellor to sack one of her cabinet members. >> yes, it is a we

norbert rÖttgen was her protegee and a possible successor.this comes hard on the heels of two other victories in regional elections. they hope they can oust angela merkel next year. >> the rate of growth has been an issue in your. is there any chance we could see merkel switching her policies to be more growth- oriented? >> not as a result of this. this was a regional election and a contest of personalities. on one hand, the popular, down to earth incumbent state premier. she did not mention the your crisis at all as far as i know in her election -- the euro crisis at all as far as in her election campaign. and the candidate who was seen as being very arrogant, very distant from the voters. opinion polls in germany only last week showed that two-thirds of german voters support angela merkel's austerity measures. that is crossed party support, including for example voters of the green party and even people who support the protest pirate party. there's discussion in this country of increasing some kind of stimulus package, but not at the cost o