Posted on 11/15/2012 5:13:00 AM PST by DeaconBenjamin
A protester holds a placard of German Chancellor Angela Merkel featuring a Hitler mustache near the Greek parliament in Athens during a demonstration against the visit of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on October 9, 2012. (AFP Photo / Louisa Gouliamaki)
Dozens of Greek activists protesting austerity policies broke into a conference and clashed with police in a protest against a German government official.
Law enforcement officers used truncheons and teargas to disperse some 250 activists in the northern city of Thessaloniki, where a meeting of Greek and German mayors was taking place.
Riot police formed a shield around German Consul Wolfgang Hoelscher-Obermaier, who was attending the event, after some of the protesters stormed into the conference center complex. The intruders were trying to pelt the diplomat with bottles of water and coffee.
The protestors changed "Nazis out" and "This will not pass", while holding mock gravestones and banners proclaiming "Fight until the end!"
Germany is the biggest contributor to Greece’s bailout loans and is demanding strict budgetary restrictions from Athens in return. This made German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other officials common targets for Greek anti-austerity protesters. Last month, around 50,000 people demonstrated in the Greek capital, when the chancellor paid a visit to the country.
The rally in Thessaloniki was hyped up by the words of Merkel’s envoy Hans Joachim Fuchtel, who told Greek journalists on Wednesday that “3,000 municipality workers are needed in Greece to do the work carried out by 1,000 Germans.”
The municipal workers, who took part in the protest, wanted to voice their anger to Fuchtel, who was also present at the Thursday event.
The Greek parliament introduced the latest austerity package last week, as some 100,000 people protested in front of the building. It includes raise of the retirement age and taxes and pension cuts.
The passage of the bill triggered a violent riot, which was clamped down with water cannons and teargas.
Coffee? Maybe they do need an austerity package.
< sigh >
Sometimes you wish Germany would just say "I'm outta here" and pull out their money and their oversight, and let it sink.
They hate the Germans, but they want that German money. Kind of like our democrats - they hate conservatives but they want to tax the life out of ‘em. Germany needs to get out of the EU NOW!!
Problem is, Germany needs the captive market of the EU to sell its stuff too. Their exports wouldn’t be competitive without the indirect subsidy the common currency provides.
So they’re kinda screwed.
They will bring nothing bu-
wait......they are talking about the Germans and not their home grown national socialists?
Greece, you get what you deserve.
Problem is, Germany needs the captive market of the EU to sell its stuff too.
Problem is, Germany needs the captive market of the EU to sell its stuff too.
Greeks: We hate you Germans for not giving us more of your money! We will call you names and riot. That should convince you to give us more of your money...won’t it?
Forget the bailout. Let them burn.
Ant-German feeling has been there a long time, I think. I went to rural Greece in the 1970s. I was 11 and had long blond hair. I remember walking up to a group of men, when my mom and I were looking to buy a bus ticket. They scowled and said sternly “Yermania?” I said “no, no! American!” They relaxed and helped us with our question. They still really hated the Germans from World War II and so they were unfriendly to German tourists and people who looked German.
Now, all of those folks I met are probably long gone, but I would not be surprised if anti-German sentiment got passed on to the next generation.
The euro keeps German prices down, yes, but the Greeks hardly buy heavy machinery from the Germans any more.
The ancient Greeks would be laughing at these Neanderthal descendants of theirs. What a thin line between feral animals begging to be put down and rational behaviour!
This is what happens when the welfare state gets its grips on a nation.
The Greeks still want the Germans to PAY for all their goodies so they can retire at 50 & drink tea by the sea.
If I was Germany, I’d let them fail. They have enough people in Germany that live off the system.
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