Angela Merkel Gets a Chilly Welcome in Greece

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Germany’s Angela Merkel did not get a warm welcome as she traveled to Greece. More than any other nation, Germany has pressed austerity measures there and threatened to withhold aid. Many Greeks understand that a huge bailout has become necessary, but that has not kept them from resentment. Merkel has been greeted with protests, which are nothing special in Greece.

She apparently flew to the country to join hands with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the architect of many budget cuts. She also will voice support for Greece remaining in the European Union. But that support may not mean much. Greeks have read the polls from Germany that show little voter support for bailouts. Merkel’s job may be on the line when national elections happen in 2013. And German support has come with more and more insistence that Greece has not cut its budget enough.

Reuters reports:

Ties between the two countries run deep. Thousands of Greeks came to Germany there after World War Two as “guest workers” to help rebuild the shattered country and more than 300,000 Greeks currently reside there.

But relations are also clouded by the atrocities Greeks suffered at the hands of the Nazis during World War Two.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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