Hope on Merkel's support in visit to Athens

Chancellor Merkel will travel today to Athens. With the head of government Tsipras will talk about the savings rate. But Tsipras is also hoping that Merkel can help him in a fight.

By Michael Lehmann, ARD-Athens

Angela Merkel, 2014 was last in Athens. The times at the time: extremely difficult. Many Greeks have made the German government, and Merkel personally responsible for your miserable become one life. Falling wages and pensions, enormous pressure and lack of prospects. Much of that was the Greek view at the time, was caused by the pressure of the rich donor countries.

Today, in January 2019, is the financial situation for many Greeks, although hardly better, but the German-Greek relationship has improved significantly. Perhaps, also, because the economic forecasts for Greece are better and unemployment is down a little.

Chara Dragassi works in the office of the foreign correspondents in Athens. She says: "Yes, I think that we have had in Greece really have no other choice, than to correct us in many ways." The have taught Merkel the people on the hard way, but maybe that was also the only way that it had worked with the corrections in important ways.

praise for Greece and its reliable savings rate, it is Merkel, in Athens, especially when talking to Alexis Tsipras. With him, the German Chancellor can be very well known. The critics of the tight left-wing politics were also a lot of the Greek Prime Minister say he has betrayed his left Ideal, and that's just under the influence of the German Chancellor. What unites Merkel and Tsipras, is the strong will to fight for a common Europe and a common currency, the Euro.