The city center of Athens will be shut down today, due to the visit of the German Minister of Finances Wolfgang Schäuble. The security measures are similar to when the German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Athens in October, when a huge part of center was blocked off to all traffic, not just protesters.
The Police announced that “due to the security measures and traffic arrangements, there will be no outdoor congregations and demonstrations between 9:00 and 20:00” in the city center and the main route from the airport. The police also shut down the Syntagma Evangelismos, Katehaki and Megaro Mousikis metro stations at 9:30. The Katehaki and Megaro Mousikis stations will operate between 12:30 and 18:00. Furthermore the tram will not approach the terminal station in Syntagma after 9:30 until the end of the day.
As expected, the opposition reacted to the security measures, with SYRIZA noting that “it is becoming clearer every day that the government is determined to trample on every worker right and to reduce democracy”, while KKE “condemns the police state measures that the government decided upon, in light of the German Finance Minister W. Schäuble’s trip to Athens, to support the government’s anti-populist work”.
