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Summary Merkel reaffirms Berlin's commitment to keep Greece inside Europe's single currency.
Tens of thousands of angry Greek protesters filled the streets of Athens on Tuesday to greet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who offered sympathy but no promise of further aid on her first visit since the euro crisis erupted three years ago.As police fired tear gas and stun grenades to halt angry crowds chanting anti-austerity slogans and waving swastika flags, Merkels host, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, welcomed her as a friend.Blamed by many Greeks for imposing draconian budget cuts in exchange for aid, Merkel reaffirmed Berlins commitment to keep the debt-crippled Greek state inside Europes single currency.I have come here today in full knowledge that the period Greece is living through right now is an extremely difficult one for the Greeks and many people are suffering, Merkel said during a joint news conference with Samaras just a few hundred yards from the mayhem on Syntagma Square, outside parliament.Precisely for that reason I want to say that much of the path is already behind us, she added, offering a public display of support to Samarass three-month-old government on her first visit to Greece since 2007.She tried to reassure her hosts that their reforms would eventually pay off, but also made clear that Greece, which has seen its unemployment rate surge to nearly 25 percent and economic output shrink by a fifth, would not solve its problems overnight.Samaras promised to implement economic reforms necessary to restore confidence: The Greek people are bleeding but are determined to stay in the euro, he said.On the other side of the parliament building, tens of thousands of demonstrators defied a ban and gathered to voice their displeasure with the German leader, whom many blame for forcing painful cuts on Greece in exchange for two EU-IMF bailout packages worth over 200 billion euros ($260 billion).Greek police fired teargas and stun grenades when protesters tried to break through a barrier to reach the cordoned-off area where Merkel and Samaras were meeting. Some demonstrators pelted police with rocks, bottles and sticks.Four people dressed in World War Two-era German military uniforms and riding on a small jeep, waved black-white-and-red swastika flags and stuck their hands out in the Hitler salute.Banners read Merkel out, Greece is not your colony and This is not a European Union, its slavery.Some 6,000 police officers were deployed, including anti-terrorist units and rooftop snipers, to provide security during the six-hour visit. German sites in the Greek capital, including the embassy and Goethe Institute, were under special protection.
