by Myrsini Matthaiou (Panteion University, Athens)

“Greece during the Crisis”, as is stated during the last five years in the Greek and international press and literature, represents a distinct period of contemporary Greek history. Starting from the year 2010 as a turning-point, Greek society has been suffering from financial troubles. These turbulences have revealed marginalised and consequently unappreciated phenomena, and have put to the test relationships established and enshrined through the years, such as the relations between Greece and Germany. This essay seeks to trace the course of Greek-German relations during the five years of the crisis, as reflected in the Sunday issues of a Greek populist newspaper (actually, a tabloid), namely Proto Thema (“First Issue”). This is the newspaper with the highest circulation in Greece during the entire last decade.¹ Taking as a point of reference three important visits to Greece during this particular period, namely two visits by Chancellor Angela Merkel and one by President Joachim Gauck, we investigate how these visits were greeted and presented by the newspaper in question in the context of the Greek-German relations. Weiterlesen →