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TEHRAN, Jan 10- Authorities have banned demonstrations in a large section of central Athens and will shut down streets and subway stations during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who arrives in the Greek capital Thursday afternoon for meetings with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and other officials.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Around 2,000 officers, a police helicopter and drones will be deployed for the visit, which ends Friday afternoon.
Germany was the largest single contributor to the three international bailout packages Greece received since 2010 as it struggled through a dramatic financial crisis which almost saw it crash out of the eurozone. Germany was also seen as one of the main enforcers of stringent austerity measures, including tax hikes and pension and salary cuts, imposed in return for the rescue loans.
Merkel and Tsipras have met in person many times over the course of the past few years, but this will be the first time the German chancellor visits Athens during Tsipras' government. He came to power in a January 2015 election on a strongly anti-bailout and anti-Merkel campaign, famously once declaring during a campaign speech before European elections: "Go back, Mrs. Merkel!"
Relations have since warmed, and Tsipras dropped his virulent anti-bailout stance, implementing the reforms demanded by Greece's creditors.
Greece saw its economy shrink by a quarter during the crisis, with unemployment reaching highs of 28 percent, and 58 percent for young people. The jobless rate has since fallen to just below 19 percent.
"I know that the last few years were very difficult for many people in Greece," Merkel said in a statement to the Athens daily Kathimerini newspaper before her visit. "Europe showed its solidarity with its three aid packages and supported Greece in its course of reforms towards fiscal and economic stability. It was doubtless a difficult course."
Source: AP
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