Merkel's Symbolic Visit

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany did not visit Greece for five years. She ended that hiatus last week (9 October) by undertaking a short but high profile visit to the debt wracked country. Seen as a landmark visit by Greece, the Greek media gave detailed coverage to the visit. Much discussion focussed on what Greece expected from her. The short visit, however, ended with apparently nothing substantive for Greece. In the end, a leading Greek daily had to agree that there was no magic solution to Greece’s economic woes. So then what was the purpose of the visit? What objectives did Chancellor Merkel have in mind when she flew into the Greek capital? What did the Greek government wish to achieve from hosting her, if only for part of a day? Did the timing of the visit afford any clue to the above questions?

Prima facie, the visit was undertaken upon the invitation of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who invited Chancellor Merkle to visit Athens during his own trip to Berlin a few weeks back. By agreeing to undertake the visit, despite being a highly unpopular personality amongst the Greek public who see her as responsible for their economic hardships, Chancellor Merkel perhaps hoped to achieve several objectives. Firstly, she wanted to showcase her renewed interest in keeping Greece in the Eurozone thereby ensuring the continued existence of the Eurozone in its present shape. Earlier in the year, rumours were afloat that the German leadership had concluded that a Greek exit from the Eurozone