Despite an openness to cross-border mergers, Germany has pushed back against talk of the Italian lender UniCredit’s acquiring Commerzbank.

Germans are eager to sell hundreds of billions of euros’ worth of goods in Italy, while drinking its wines, skiing its Alps and sunning on its beaches.

But in the weeks since UniCredit, a multinational bank based in Milan, swooped in to take a 21 percent stake in Commerzbank, one of Germany’s largest lenders, that fondness has been shown to have its limits.

With the looming threat of a takeover — potentially one of the most ambitious mergers in Europe since the 2008 financial crisis — union leaders, shareholders, industry associations and even Germany’s chancellor have floated reasons that they believe Commerzbank must remain German. Both banks will report quarterly results next week, with speculation about a possible union top of mind for investors.

Germany had no qualms when the German airline Lufthansa moved to

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