Mario Draghi sees reason to be “optimistic” about the euro-area financial crisis now that he's committed the European Central Bank's balance sheet to ending it.

That confidence depends on political leaders who have rarely missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity since Greece's 2009 deficit blowout began upending the 17-nation euro zone. Their track record and the compromises required to put their promises into action leave Juergen Michels, chief euro-area economist at Citigroup Inc. in London, skeptical.

“There are still a huge amount of unanswered questions and the region has to find a way back to growth and reduced debt,” said Michels. “The journey is still very, very long.”