Merkel to Greeks: We're Friends and Allies
The German chancellor is on her first trip to Greece since 2007
In her first visit to Greece since 2007, Angela Merkel offered verbal support for Athens, saying "there is progress every day." The German chancellor also announced two Berlin-funded development projects focusing on health care and regional administration. She was greeted by some 50,000 demonstrators in Athens protesting her tough demands for economic reforms.
They didn't necesarily represent the majority, but the message they brought with them was a bitter one. Some of the estimated 50,000 protesters on the streets of Athens greeted the German chancellor on Tuesday with swastikas, signs with epithets like "Out with the Fourth Reich" and placards depicting her face and a painted-on Hitler mustache.
In her first visit to Greece since 2007, Angela Merkel offered verbal support for Athens, saying "there is progress every day." The German chancellor also announced two Berlin-funded development projects focusing on health care and regional administration. She was greeted by some 50,000 demonstrators in Athens protesting her tough demands for economic reforms.
They didn't necesarily represent the majority, but the message they brought with them was a bitter one. Some of the estimated 50,000 protesters on the streets of Athens greeted the German chancellor on Tuesday with swastikas, signs with epithets like "Out with the Fourth Reich" and placards depicting her face and a painted-on Hitler mustache.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Good thing they didn't try that in Germany or they'd be going away for a long time. Can't afford to risk showing tolerance to Nazis.