G ERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL said Thursday that the fate of the euro is the fate of Europe, and that the economic crisis facing the eurozone today is an opportunity to fix the underlying problems that have brought the Continent to the brink of economic collapse. Her comments echoed those of her mentor and predecessor as head of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, Helmut Kohl, the architect of German reunification. Kohl recently said in a widely publicized comment that the eurozone is a "guarantee of peace" in Europe. The outpouring of support for the eurozone from Germany's top political echelon may seem confusing considering the past four months of foot-dragging from Berlin. Germany's stalling on the Greek bailout nearly threw the world into another September 2008-like crisis, with both the United States and Japan urging Berlin to act.