2 minutes agoMerkel in Athens, strong security measures
Periskopi(7 years ago)
(7 years ago)German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Athens today in a recent move to convince Athens to speed up the approval of the Prespa Agreement for Macedonia's name, but also to give a boost to Greek-German relations, as the country emerged from European Troika monitoring programmes. It seems also, German Chancellor, [...]
It seems that in addition, the German Chancellor also brings an economic assistance package to official Athens, as a sign of support for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, now that the country is closer than ever to a political crisis, following the threats of Panos Kamenos, the ruling coalition partner in the country, which has a majority of only 151 votes in the Athens Parliament of 300 deputies, that it will leave the coalition, if this agreement goes to Parliament in the coming months.
Berlin wants Athens and Skopje to close the deal between them, which will pave the way for Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration, so that Merkel's arrival in Athens is considered an almost impossible mission, as Kameno's departure from the government could lead the country to early elections, and polls more than ever favour the opposition that Nea Dhimkratia, which has declared her vote will be against her if she arrives in parliament in mid-January.
Merkel will arrive in Athens about afternoon hours, where she will meet the heads of state, as well as businessmen and heads of local corporations, broadcast tch.
More than 2,000 police officers have been appointed for security preservation, as well as extra security measures, such as closing stations in the Athens subway, or diverting movement into the centre of the Hellenic capital.
Even or the police have not given permission for gatherings, extremist right and left groupings have decided to protest in the area very close to the German Chancellor's meeting place with the country's political leaders and president.
