German Chancellor Angela Merkel said March 17 that the debt problems currently facing the eurozone needed be dealt with at their roots, adding that the eurozone must have the option of removing from the currency bloc member states who repeatedly fail to comply with governing fiscal rules. Merkel's words are even harsher than those of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who in a March 12 editorial said states that fail to narrow their budget deficits and regain competitiveness "should, as a last resort, exit the monetary union." Whereas Schaeuble suggested such members should leave the eurozone, Merkel explicitly called for means to vote them out. Furthermore, while Schaeuble's suggestions have drawn attention mostly by Europe's technocrats, Merkel's words carry far more political weight and will ring loudest in Athens' ears.