Investors betting against the euro-area surviving its debtcrisis in one piece may be overlooking one thing: the will ofpoliticians to hold it together.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is intensifying her defense ofthe currency. French President Nicolas Sarkozy says there's noalternative to channeling aid to Greece without risking the kind ofcataclysm set off by the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers HoldingsInc. Greek Premier George Papandreou this week proposed 6.6 billioneuros ($8.7 billion) of fresh austerity measures in a recessionheaded into a fourth year.

The euro is “a political project,” said Erik Nielsen, globalchief economist at UniCredit Group in London. “The market may nothave believed them, but leaders have repeatedly said they will dowhatever it takes to keep it together.”