Greek anger boils over at Merkel

[ChinaSucks]

Angela Merkel confronts Greek austerity anger at Athens protests
AAP
October 10, 20121:03AM

POLICE have fired tear gas to disperse protesters attempting to storm a barricade near parliament as tens of thousands of Greeks massed in Athens in a show of anger against German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Vilified for Greece's punishing spending cuts, Mrs Merkel, the leader of Europe's paymaster, is on her first visit to the eurozone's most indebted nation since the debt crisis erupted almost three years ago.

As she met Greek Prime Minister Antonio Samaras, demonstrators gathered just a few blocks away, some brandishing banners reading "You are not welcome, Imperialisten Raus" (Imperialists out)" or "No to the Fourth Reich".

Two Nazi flags were draped on the steel fence near parliament and set on fire. Sporadic violence also broke out, with small gangs of masked youths throwing bottles at riot police.

Thousands of police were out on the streets and key parts of central Athens were closed off to create a large security zone for Mrs Merkel's meetings with Mr Samaras and President Carolos Papoulias.

Riot police fight with demonstrators during clashes in Athens as German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Greece.

Police said about 25,000 protesters had already streamed on to the central Syntagma Square, which lies outside the lockdown zone.

Mrs Merkel, the head of Europe's largest economy and the continent's paymaster, has been a champion of tough budgetary discipline.

She has become a hate figure in Greece over the tough spending cuts imposed on the country in return for multi-billion dollar aid packages.

She has even been depicted as Adolf Hitler in Greek tabloid caricatures.

A protester clashes with riot police outside a barrier errected to protect the Greek parliament in Athens during a demonstration against the vist of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on October 9, 2012. Athens went into security lockdown for a landmark visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, an austerity hate figure in Greece whose arrival will be greeted by union and opposition party protests. Thousands of police fanned out across the capital, creating a large safety zone for Merkel's meetings with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and President Carolos Papoulias in which all gatherings and protests have been banned. AFP PHOTO /LOUISA GOULIAMAKI Source: AFP

The visit comes at a crucial time for Athens which is locked in negotiations with its international creditors over a 13.5 billion euros ($17.33 billion)- package of further cuts in order to win further bailout funds.

Christina Vassilopoulou, a 37-year-old teacher in the impoverished Athens district of Agios Panteleimon, said she had turned up to protest "the decisions taken at European meetings where Merkel manipulates the participants".

"I have a doctorate and I make 900 euros a month, 400 less than before. We have children that go hungry and most of the parents are unemployed," she said.

Mrs Merkel's office and the Greek authorities are selling her visit as a gesture of solidarity and encouragement for the country's reform efforts, but many in Greece said the trip only served to fan anger.

Two men dressed as German World War II soldiers with Nazi swastika armbands sit in the back of an open vehicle, in front of a banner reading "Merkel out, undesirable" during a protest in Athens on Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began here three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the government as a historic boost for the country's future in Europe's shared currency, but by protesters as a harbinger of more austerity and hardship. More than 7,000 police will be on hand, cordoning off parks and other sections of central Athens, to keep demonstrators away from the German leader who is due to arrive today in the Greek capital for talks with conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. . (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Source: AP

Online hackers group Anonymous said it had attacked a number of Greek government sites.

"We, as Anonymous, are next to the Greeks claiming their freedom. We are next to a people who have fought against the German occupying forces," it said.

Vana Koronaiou, a shop owner selling German-made handbags near Syntagma Square, said: "This visit pours oil on the fire.

"If she wanted to help, she should have done it sooner," she said.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (R) welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel before their meeting in Athens on October 9, 2012. Merkel's first visit to Greece since the debt crisis erupted almost three years ago, as protestors geared up for a major show of discontent against painful austerity cuts. AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS Source: AFP

Mr Samaras is holding talks with Mrs Merkel before a joint press conference. The German chancellor will then meet Mr Papoulias and a delegation of Greek and German businessmen before departing in the evening.

 

[ChinaSucks]

Security tight as Angela Merkel flies into Athens

Protesters hold a banner in front of the Greek parliament in Athens during a rally against the upcoming visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel

By Renee Maltezou and Noah Barkin
Tuesday October 09 2012

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel flies into the heart of Europe's debt crisis amid tight security this morning, facing protests by angry Greeks to bring a message of support to a near-bankrupt nation fighting to stay in the euro.

Europe's most powerful leader can expect a hostile reception by a people worn down by years of recession and austerity which many see as forced upon them by Germany as its price for emergency loans.

Police have banned protests in most of central Athens and readied 6,000 officers, including anti-terrorist units and rooftop snipers, to provide security during the six-hour visit, Merkel's first since Greece's debt crisis erupted in 2009.

It marks a gesture of support for the ruling coalition under Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, a fellow conservative, as he struggles to impose more cuts on a society fraying at the edges after five years of crippling recession.

It also underscores Merkel's commitment to keep Greece in the euro zone - at least until Germans vote in a parliamentary election due in a year.

Teachers, doctors and other public employees will stop work today in a gesture of protest, while trade unions and opposition political parties said they would take to the streets, risking confrontation with police.

Demonstrations in Athens have a habit of turning violent, hijacked by radicals armed with petrol bombs and concrete ripped from the streets.

Thousands of trade unionists rallied on Syntagma Square outside the Greek parliament building on the eve of the visit, waving national flags. Among banners were slogans that included: "Don't cry for us, Angela" and "Angela, you are not welcome."

"We know she doesn't care about the Greeks and what we're going through," said Maria Koumarianou, 64. "We must all protest for the future of our children and grandchildren. If the turnout is big, she'll see we're at a dead end, that we can't survive."

Greece is locked in talks with its troika of lenders - the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - on yet more cuts to secure the next tranche of a €130 billion loan package, its second bailout since 2010. Without the €31.5 million tranche, Greece says it will run out of money by the end of November.

But many Greeks say they cannot take much more of cuts to wages and pensions, the tax hikes and the recession that has left a quarter of the workforce jobless.

"We have concluded agreements with each other, and we are looking at their implementation," Merkel said yesterday. "I know that Greece is not going through an easy time at the moment," she acknowledged, while stressing its need to be competitive.

Relations between Berlin and Athens hit a low early this year; Merkel's finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, likened Athens to a bottomless pit, and newspapers in Greece, which was occupied by German troops during World War Two, caricatured the pair as bullying Nazis.

But the visit suggests Merkel has judged the risks of a Greek exit from the euro too high for the rest of the 17-nation euro zone, especially with a German election looming next year.

Merkel is scheduled to meet Samaras, President Karolos Papoulias, and representatives of Greek business. Samaras, who won power in June, will greet Merkel at the airport.

The timing of the visit, showing Merkel very publicly with the new premier, suggests growing trust in the Greek leadership under Samaras, after a litany of broken promises and stalled reforms under the previous administration.

"Merkel's visit effectively underlines her position that Germany will continue to support Greek membership of the euro area," said Alex White, an economics analyst at JP Morgan Chase in London.

"We expect the chancellor to remain consistent on this point, at least until after Germany's federal election next September."

- Renee Maltezou and Noah Barkin