

Ms. Merkel stated at a joint news conference with Mr. Samaras, “It is in our common interest that we in Europe once again win back our credibility in the world and show that in the euro zone we can solve our problems together.”
Wasn’t that phoned in already by a press aide? What have I missed? Is this really just an effort to stand up to protestors? A photo opportunity to show the strength of those in charge? Remember the long minutes of waiting out the applause Greek politicians took while taking credit for the 2004 Summer Olympics when the great debt was built. Politics is, as usual, the song and dance Broadway Show propped up to amuse their fell0w critics on the payroll. As the large protests in Moscow have shown, it’s not about the numbers that can be seen disagreeing but how the angry people can be portrayed as in the way.

Three years of grinding austerity in exchange for foreign funding has seen Greece’s gross domestic product shrink 25 percent. Unemployment is now at 50 percent for young people and 24 percent overall. A series of governments has dramatically cut spending without improving the functioning of the state, resulting in cuts to essential services like hospitals. “In three years they have destroyed a nation,” said Maria Choussakou, 59, a former high school ancient Greek teacher who said she had been forced into early retirement. “We were middle class, now we’re impoverished.”
The Times reports - At the news conference, Ms. Merkel, looking tense, acknowledged the pain Greece was facing after massive spending cuts. But she encouraged the country to continue on its path of structural reforms. “Much has been achieved, much has been demanded of the Greek people, she said. “I am deeply convinced that it’s going to be worthwhile,” she added.
The Times quotes Mr. Samaras saying that Ms. Merkel’s visit had “broken our international isolation” and “turned a new page in the relations of Greece and Germany.” The prime minister said the visit also helped diminish fears that Greece might exit the euro. “Everyone who has bet on Greece’s collapse and that Europe will be badly hurt will lose this bet.”

Some banners in the demonstration in Athens on Tuesday read, “Don’t cry for us Mrs. Merkel” and “Merkel you are not welcome here.” A small group of protesters burned a flag bearing the symbol of the Nazi swastika while a handful of protesters dressed in Nazi-style uniforms drew cheers of approval as they rode a small jeep past a police cordon.

But - In the news conference, Ms. Merkel acknowledged the “suffering” that the Greek people had endured as the government forced through deep spending cuts in the midst of a recession that has lasted for years. But she said the country was headed in the right direction. “I am convinced that the path, which is a difficult path, will lead to success,” Ms. Merkel said.
But many Greeks disagreed. “It’s just spin, it means nothing,” said Vassiliki Tsitsopoulos, a literature professor who attended Tuesday’s demonstration. “It’s never been worse, it’s just going to get worse, there’s no bottom, there’s just spin. We’re just keeping up appearances,” Ms. Tsitsopoulos added. “Including the demonstrators. At this point we’re part of the scenery.”
But The Times continues - Others believed the protests were necessary. “This is pure provocation, we have to answer back,” said the nurse, Christina Amanti, 37. “It’s like she’s visiting her protectorate. What’s she going to do, pat us on the back and tell us to keep getting poorer, that it’s good for us?”
Yet the German Chancellor is hardly responsible for Greek money disappearing when it's hid everywhere all over the world.
Nonetheless The Times explains - While German policy makers have complaints about their struggling partners, the realization appears to have dawned on Ms. Merkel and officials in her chancellery that with Mario Monti in Italy, Mariano Rajoy in Spain and Mr. Samaras in Greece, Ms. Merkel has the most cooperative partners she is ever going to have to work with.


Ms. Merkel is also facing domestic political concerns. Her visit comes only days after her main rivals, the Christian Democratic party, announced that Peer Steinbrück, a former finance minister under Ms. Merkel from 2005 to 2009 who takes a more lenient line on Greece, would run against her in next year’s general election.
Even within Ms. Merkel’s own Christian Democratic party there are differences of opinion on how to handle Greece. While the chancellor has in recent months shifted her rhetoric from stressing the importance of austerity and come out more strongly in favor of keeping Greece in the euro zone, her current finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble has upheld a tougher line on Athens.
Good cop, bad cop, still no one addresses why money has to disappear. Why what the poor desperately cling to is spent and unappreciated.

Mr. Schäuble told RBB public broadcaster on Monday, “We want to help Greece to build up an efficient bureaucracy and an efficient economy, but at some point, Greece needs to stand on its own two feet. It is pointless to help a bottomless pit.”
And how exactly does a European vacation paradise become a bottomless pit? Could be there’s always a bargain in business and it’s never the European tourist.
Anyway, according to The Times - Analysts said that Ms. Merkel knew she was taking a risk to travel to Greece and brave protests and negative press. “She knew this was going to be a difficult trip and that she wouldn’t necessarily win over Greek hearts,” said Eberhard Sandschneider, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations. “But the belief in European integration, in European responsibility is fundamental in German politics, for the chancellor and for the opposition. She is trying to send a signal that it is not about saving Greece to death but also ensuring that the Greek economy can get back on its feet,” Mr. Sandschneider added. “No one has the master plan in their pocket for how to lead Europe out of this crisis.”

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