7,000 police to protect Angela Merkel during Athens visit

 

By Matthew Sparkes 2:55PM BST 08 Oct 2012

Greek police are preparing a huge security operation involving 7,000 officers, water cannon and a helicopter to protect German chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to Athens tomorrow.

Pensioners demonstrated against falling incomes by burning an EU flag in Athens today

Ms Merkel is due to land in Greece tomorrow morning for talks with her counterpart Antonis Samaras and president Carolos Papoulias. But she is likely to face angry protests in a country where many feel their already-struggling economy has been dealt further harm by austerity measures demanded in return for a bail-out.

Greece is in its fifth year of recession and unemployment has soared to 25pc. The country is currently in negotiations with the troika (representatives from the IMF, European Commission and ECB) over whether it has made enough progress implementing cuts and tax hikes to release its next €11.5bn tranche of bail-out cash, without which it faces bankruptcy by November.

Alexis Tsipras, who leads the opposition Syriza party in Greece, said: "She does not come to support Greece, which her policies have brought to the brink. She comes to save the corrupt, disgraced and servile political system. We will give her the welcome she deserves."

Around 7,000 police will be on patrol on the streets of Athens, backed up by rooftop snipers, water cannon and a helicopter, while 300 members of the coastguard have also been drafted-in to bolster the security operation.

As well as the large police presence, all large gatherings and rallies have been banned in large parts of Athens (shown in the map below) from 9am to 10pm to "preserve the peace".

There have been regular anti-austerity protests on the streets of Athens in recent months, including today, when pensioners demonstrated against their falling incomes by burning an EU flag.

Ms Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told a regular news conference today: "She is going to Greece to express her support for the ambitious reform efforts that the Greeks have set out and are - in part - beginning to implement.

"We should not forget - and I think this is sometimes forgotten in Germany - that Greece can point to some successes when it comes to reducing the deficit through very difficult measures."

7,000 police to protect Angela Merkel during Athens visit - Telegraph