Greek police are preparing a huge security operation involving 7,000 officers, water cannon and a helicopter to protect German chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to Athens tomorrow.
Ms Merkel is due to land in Greece tomorrow morning for talks with her counterpart Antonis Samaras and president Carolos Papoulias. But she is likely to face angry protests in a country where many feel their already-struggling economy has been dealt further harm by austerity measures demanded in return for a bail-out.
Greece is in its fifth year of recession and unemployment has soared to 25pc. The country is currently in negotiations with the troika (representatives from the IMF, European Commission and ECB) over whether it has made enough progress implementing cuts and tax hikes to release its next €11.5bn tranche of bail-out cash, without which it faces bankruptcy by November.
Around 7,000 police will be on patrol on the streets of Athens, backed up by rooftop snipers, water cannon and a helicopter, while 300 members of the coastguard have also been drafted-in to bolster the security operation.
As well as the large police presence, all large gatherings and rallies have been banned in large parts of Athens (shown in the map below) from 9am to 10pm to “preserve the peace”.
View 9 Οκτώβρη χάρτης απαγόρευσης Συγκεντρώσεων in a larger map
Telegraph has the full article
