Eurozone tensions bubble as Merkel storms to victory The left-leaning party, led by Peer Steinbrueck, is perceived as softer on debt-gripped eurozone nations, but agreed with Mrs Merkel's broad approach in the eurozone during its election campaign. Following a summer of inertia in the run-up to the German elections, the eurozone debt crisis looked set to bubble up as anti-austerity protests flared up in Spain and the Netherlands over the weekend. Governments in both countries face ferocious opposition to spending cuts aimed at trimming high debt levels. Greece meanwhile is braced for another week of public sector strikes against planned job cuts, just as its EU-IMF troika of lenders arrive in the country to discuss its next €1bn (£845m) tranche of bail-out cash. Last week, thousands of Greek civil servants protested against troika-imposed measures to cut 4,000 state jobs and re-deploy 25,000 workers. Brussels is also gearing up for a new wave of bank bail-outs as it awaits the outcome of a major review which is expected to unveil weaknesses in the bloc's financial system. A closely-watched survey of private sector activity in the eurozone is today expected to highlight the deep economic divisions in the bloc. Core nations are driving an overall improvement in the bloc, which exited an 18-month recession earlier this year, while peripheral nations remain mired in recession.