Merkel the scapegoat as Germany feels heat of euro protests

PARIS – Heard the one about German Chancellor Angela Merkel arriving at Athens airport?

‘Nationality?’ asks the Greek immigration officer.’German,’ she replies.’Occupation?’’No, just here for a few days.’Maybe it is a good thing that Europeans can find something to joke about in these times of debt-induced economic woes.But behind that widely-distributed gag lies a tendency to lay the blame for the current crisis at Germany’s door which some experts believe is not only unfair but worrying for the future of the European Union.Across southern Europe, Merkel has been made the scapegoat for the austerity policies which brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets on Wednesday in the latest wave of a popular protest movement which has cast doubt on the survival of the euro single currency in its current form.At a demonstration outside the Greek parliament earlier this week, protestors erected a makeshift gallows to which they attached a huge photograph of the German Chancellor and a noose.Merkel laughed off the jeers she received from crowds during recent trips to Greece and Portugal, but it must have been harder to do that on hearing the calls of ‘murderer’ directed at her on the streets of Lisbon.Even serious commentators in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain have not refrained from including allusions to Germany’s Nazi past in their critiques of the economic ‘diktats’ which, despite being the product of the EU’s collective decision-making system, are frequently portrayed as having been made in Berlin.When EU finance ministers this week decided to delay the release of additional bailout funds to Athens, it was Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble who copped the flak.The following day, a cartoon in the leading liberal daily, Kathimerini, depicted Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras trudging wearily through a desert.Arriving at a drinks station he encounters his German counterpart Schaeuble, relaxing under the shelter of a parasol, and begs him for water. ‘You’re on the right track,’ responds the German. ‘Just another ten kilometres.’It’s time for a bit of restraint, says Jean-Dominque Giuliani, president of the Robert Schuman Foundation, a pro-EU research group.’CARRYING THE CAN”It is too easy to make Merkel carry the can for what were collective decisions,’ he told AFP.’After all, it is not her who is to blame for decades of cronyism in Greece and it wasn’t her who told [former Italian premier] Silvio Berlusconi to encourage tax evasion.’Claire Demesmay, of the German foreign policy institute in Berlin, says the hostility displayed towards Merkel reflects a rejection of both the national politicians who have led their countries into the mire, and the European policies defended by the Chancellor.’Germany is suspected of wanting to dominate Europe, but in fact it is very ill at ease with a position of leadership,’ she said.’Since the second world war, Germany has been trying to gain acceptance through European integration. She needs to share leadership with France and other countries.’The opaque nature of EU decision-making does not help counter the impression of Merkel pulling the strings, admits Fabio Liberti, research director at France’s Institute of International and Strategic Relations.’There is not one person who decides for everyone,’ he said. ‘People have to be careful about these kind of comments.’Guiliani adds: ‘Merkel is the focus for the anger on the streets but that is not necessarily representative of what most people think.’Each time we have seen big protests there have been predictions of an electoral backlash against the EU, but, by and large, it is the pro-European parties that have come out on top at the polls.’Scapegoating Merkel is also convenient for some governments, notes Liberti. ‘But it is dangerous for the future if you tell voters cuts are happening because Europe says so rather than because of the mistakes countries have made themselves in the past.’ – Nampa-AFP