Merkel Visits Athens

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a five-hour visit to Athens today, for the first time since the Greek debt crisis exploded onto the European scene three years ago. She received a hostile welcome from an estimated 50,000 largely peaceful protesters who oppose the severe austerity measures imposed on Greece as the price of providing the bailout that is saving her economy and position in the Eurozone. The Chancellor praised the current Greek government for covering "much of the ground" required for recovery. member of the eurozone....As partners, we are working hard to achieve that." As the largest bailout fund contributor, Germany is seen by many Greeks as the cause and enforcer of the austerity measures. Debt monitors from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, known as the "troika", will soon deliver a report that will determine if Greece receives its next bailout payment, without which it will be bankrupt. Greece has implemented deep budget cuts and tax hikes, increased retirement ages and aided with private sector layoffs, and to date, Greece has received €240 billion ($310 billion) in bailout loans and has renegotiated a €110 billion bond repayment deal. Athens must enact further austerity measures worth €13.5 billion over the next two years to receive its next bailout payment - without which the government will run out of cash next month. But, dear readers, while today's protests were mostly peaceful, many Greeks are very skeptical about Merkel's and Germany's motives. They see even more severe hardship ahead and blame Germany and Merkel for insisting on such measures. The protests symbolize the deep rift enveloping Europe and the need for a complete overhaul of its fiscal compact and decision-making process. It will take more than the Chancellor repeating her desire to keep Greece in the Eurozone and urging political allies to refrain from public criticism of the Athens government. Some Greek and European politicians are now saying that Greece's departure from the common currency would not produce the economic shock that many fear. The real fear and barrier to European reform toward greater fiscal control and responsibility is the 1500-year-old fear of loss of culturally based nationhood. No European country is willing to surrender its political, economic and fiscal autonomy to a European council...no matter how it is stuctured. And with reason. The European Union is still an experiment and we are witnessing the first real test of its will to survive.