Greek opposition parties and other groups will protest German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first visit to Greece since the crisis started, accusing her of wanting to create a “German protectorate.”
Trade unions have called on workers to join a three-hour walkout in the Athens metropolitan area on Oct. 9, the day Merkel will arrives.
Protesters are expected to gather and rally in central Athens. Authorities, however, have announced a ban on public gatherings in most parts of central Athens over safety concerns.
The Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza), the main opposition party and fiercely opposed to the government’s reform measures, has called for a rally in front of Parliament.
Efforts should be made to “put an end to the venomous measures prepared by the government and the troika representatives and overturn the anti-popular policy and its advocates,” Syriza’s party secretariat said in a statement Friday, reported Greek news agency AMNA.
The right-wing party of Independent Greeks, the country’s fifth largest party, announced a protest in front of the German Embassy in Athens.
The protest is “to reassert in front of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel our opposition to the transformation of our country into a German protectorate,” said the party’s spokesman, Christos Zois, in a statement.
Many Greeks, meanwhile, have responded with ironic comments on the news of Merkel’s visit. “When she comes we will welcome her with our famous Greek hospitality,” commented a reader on a Greek news site, referring to the planned protests.
The Greek press has repeatedly portrayed Merkel wearing Nazi outfits and has linked Germany’s occupation of Greece during World War II with the current economic reform program.
Most Greeks are opposed to the austerity measures that the government has imposed in exchange for bailout money from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank, funds that Greece has been receiving since 2010 to stay afloat.
Many Greeks see corruption as the main cause for the crisis.
When Merkel’s government announced Friday the scheduled visit to Athens to meet with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, it came as a surprise.
Until now, Merkel and other leading heads of state in the European Union have shied away from traveling to the country since the beginning of the EU debt crisis in 2010.
While other members of Merkel’s government have repeatedly voiced support for a Greek exit from the eurozone, Merkel believes that Greece should stay in the 17-member currency bloc. She has repeatedly stated that an “end to the euro means an end to Europe.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with German economic newspaper Handelsblatt, Samaras warned on Friday about his country’s fragile state, being threatened by high unemployment, poverty, and radical parties.
Samaras called his government’s reform program “Greece’s last chance” before descending into chaos. Samaras said that Greece will run out of money in November unless the EU steps in once again.
EU finance ministers will meet on Oct. 18–19 to decide whether Greece will receive the next installment of the second bailout package.
With additional reporting from Athens, Greece, by Neli Magdalini Sfigopoulou
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