Open letter to Merkel

Der Besuch von Kanzlerin Merkel in Athen wird von massiven Protesten begleitet. Dabei geht es nicht etwa um ihre Person oder um alte antideutsche Ressentiments, wie die Medien suggerieren. Viele Griechen nehmen Merkel vielmehr ihre rücksichts- und “alternativlose” Austeritätspolitik übel. Der Blog “Keep talking Greece” hat die Stimmung in einem offenen Brief an die Kanzlerin zusammengefaßt. Tenor: Sprich mit Deinem Parteifreund Samaras, aber nicht zum Volk – denn das erwartet nichts mehr von Dir! 

Hier der Text:

Dear Angela, Liebe Angie,

all your bags are packed, you’re ready to go… ready to leave Berlin on a jet plane and land to Athens, Greece. You are a brave woman, liebe Angie, to come to a country where the majority of the people have no warm feelings towards you. Even if your heart is bleeding for our plight. For the plight of mothers who cannot feed their children, the plight of pensionsers and chronic-ill who are dying without sufficient health care and the plight of  jobless who have no eyes to look into the future.

To carry your bleeding heart to Athens is as oxymoron as ”taking owls to Athens”, as ”selling snow to eskimos” or “carrying coals to Newcastle.”

Therefore you have at least 12 hours time to think of another smart and compassionate line.

But, in fact, dear Angie, you know… we do not need your compassion or solidarity. Neither are we up to to hear empty phrases like “The sacrifices of the Greek people have been recognized” or that our Prime Minister “Antonis Samaras is doing excellent work to meet the country’s commitments to its lenders” and that “the program will boost competitiveness and growth.”

We, the mothers without milk, the chronic-ill without medicine and the jobless without work living on zero income, we all have heard all this nonsense many times before. Much to many times in the last two and a half years.

And last, but not least, dear Angie, do not come up with a warning that “either the wages and pensions cuts and the reforms will happen or the 31-billion-euro tranche will not arrive and we will go officially bankrupt”. THIS we have been hearing every three months, since the country sought the aid of IMF, the EU and the ECB in May 2010.

No, dear, Angie, we don’t need to hear anything of all the above. Best is you don’t speak to us at all.

Go meet Samaras and Papoulias, and some Greek & German businessmen and enjoy a Spartan but fine lunch.

Do not speak to us at all. We don’t need to hear you speaking. No offence. But we’ve being there, seen that and heard everything already many times.

Dear Angela, Liebe Angie,

all we need from you is that you carry with you a suitcase full of cash to cover the expenses the Greek lavish state will spent for your safety and protection.

Deployment of 7,000 policemen, helicopters in the air, water cannons, frogmen, iron fences… Not to mention the possible use of tear gas.

Do you know how much all these draconian secutiry measures will cost our bleeding wallets?

With Best Regards

   und freundlichen Gruessen

“Keep Talking, Greece” – the blog about the real Greece

PS Also you don’t need to pack all these old-fashioned and out-of-date jackets of yours. It’s pretty warm here in Athens this time of the year. But if you pack some lists with tax evaders, we will specifically happy. Because our government keeps losing them.

Of course, you could be fair and honest enough and answer following questions:

Angie, Angie, when will those clouds all disappear?

Angie, Angie, where will it leads us from here?

Mir bleibt nur ein Wunsch: dass dieser Brief in ganz Deutschland verbreitet werde. Also bitte weiter empfehlen, retweeten etc. – und natürlich auch kommentieren!

Siehe zu diesem Thema auch: “Schaut auf diese Stadt!”