(Image source: Bloomberg / Telegraph)

BY WEN YAN

Germany says "YES" to the expansion of the EU bailout fund. But will the euro NOT fall apart? Euronews has the story.

"The German Bundestag has voted to approve new powers for the European-wide fund for helping euro zone countries in trouble... The ballot means the European Financial Stability Facility, or EFSF, will be committed to boosting bailout guarantees to 440 billion euros -- a figure that some critics say is still too low, and will inevitably have to be increased further down the line."

The bill's passage by Europe's biggest economy enables the bailout fund to take further steps. France 24 explains how.

"The European leaders do not want to put more money into the kitty, so how can they get more bank for their buck? Put simply, through leveraging. Currently the fund's capacity stands at 440 billion euros, by leveraging up the fund, its firepower could increase to as much as 2 trillion euros giving it enough landing potential to not only save Greece, but also much bigger economies, like Spain and Italy."

The New York Times calls the approval the "most important step in a tortuous process.”

"Passage in Germany — Europe’s only country with the fiscal wherewithal to pull fellow countries in the euro currency zone out of trouble — moved the struggling rescue forward."

Just how far can the expanded bailout fund go? An analyst told Bloomberg the fund still can't reach the final point to lead Europe out of the crisis.

DAVID BLANCHFLOWER: "Despite the fact this morning Germany voted in favor, I guess I saw a reaction which I sort of agreed with, which is ‘too little, too late’...These European politicians look absolutely hopeless. Go back, the Central Bank raised rates twice this year, did the same in 2008, and that's made the crisis worse."

To respond to Germany, Greece’s finance minister tells CNNMoney Greeks are going to live an austere life, and promises “No defaults.”

EVANGELOS VENIZELOS: "For us, the main target now is to go ahead. It's absolutely necessary for us to establish the national dignity, and our fiscal and financial independence. And because of that, the Greek people is absolutely ready to accept very strong sacrifices."

But are they really? Austerity protests in Greece going on since this summer show Greeks might not be ready yet.

According to Fox Business, civil servants gathered in front of Greece’s finance ministry Thursday shouting “Take out the bailout and leave.” Germany’s finance minister says its resources must be used "efficiently.” The Economist says it's nice for Germany to offer, but still asks "Will it work?"

"A successful EFSF vote will not answer the central question: is Germany’s best offer to its partners in the euro zone good enough to keep it from falling apart?”