Greek president to Germany's Merkel: Greece often felt alone

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s often-strained relations in past years with European economic powerhouse Germany took center stage in a meeting in Athens Friday between outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greece’s president.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou was Merkel’s first official meeting during her visit to the country whose financial crisis marked much of her 16-year tenure and Germany’s relationship with Europe.

“There were times of difficulty and tension,” Sakellaropoulou told Merkel, referring to their two countries’ relations. “The financial crisis that many countries of Europe faced put mainly Greece, which was called on to pay a heavy price, in a difficult position. It was an unprecedented situation ... and Greece felt — we justifiably often felt alone.”

Greece’s decade-long financial crisis, which began in late 2009, saw a quarter of the country’s economy wiped out and Greece almost crashing out of the euro, the joint currency used by many European Union members.

Germany was the largest single contributor to three successive international bailout packages Greece received from 2010 to 2018.

But the rescue loans came with strings attached. Greece’s economy was put under strict supervision and a series of deeply resented reforms were imposed, including repeated tax hikes and cuts in pensions, salaries and public spending for everything from health care to infrastructure.

While the Greek economy had suffered years of poor management and the overspending of public money which contributed to its dire financial predicament and triggered the crisis, the terms imposed in return for the rescue were particularly harsh.

Many Greeks blamed Merkel — and her finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble — for the enforced austerity which led to plummeting living standards and an...