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Anastasia Balezdrova

On Friday, the German Chancellor will visit Athens for one day. According to the official schedule, Angela Merkel will arrive in Athens at noon. After being met at Athens 'Eleftherios Venizelos' airport, she and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will participate in two forums, which will take place at a central hotel in Athens. One of the conferences will be organized to promote young entrepreneurs and the second will include representatives of small- and medium-sized enterprises and government representatives related to the sector.

At 5:30 pm, Angela Merkel will be in the Prime Minister's Maximou residence where there will be a formal meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Subsequently they will both make statements and will participate in a press conference.

Photo from the previous visit of Angela Merkel to Athens on 9 October 2012, ft.com

At the same time, the main opposition SYRIZA party will hold a protest rally and it is urging all the citizens of Athens to participate in it. According to the leftists, "Angela Merkel's visit to Athens is in support of the government before the elections, of its destructive actions. She is coming to check whether the policy of austerity is continuing, if the banks have started serving the interests of the powerful ones and the state property has been sold for peanuts as well as if the salaries have fallen to Bulgarian levels." The protest will take place at 5:00 pm in Klafthmonos Square.

Two hours later, in front of Athens University, radio "Sto Kokkino" ("In the Red", the radio station of the left opposition SYRIZA party - author’s note) there will be a "dynamic bustle for the voice of the other Europe to be heard too" with the presentation within the context of the event, of journalist Stelios Kouloglou’s documentary about Angela Merkel called "The Godmother". Hours before the visit of the German Chancellor to Athens GRReporter spoke with the author of the film.

Mr. Kouloglou, tell us about the content of "The Godmother" film.

The film is an unofficial biography of Angela Merkel. It describes the destructive policy applied by her in the Euro zone and Greece and tries to explain the cause for it, seeking answers in the time when Merkel formed her personality and character, i.e. in the era of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). When the GDR disintegrated, Merkel was already 35 years old.

The title of the film is "The Godmother". Why is that? Is it associated with the book by Gertrud Höhler?

Yes, the title is inspired by Höhler’s book. She cooperated during the shooting and gave an interview for the film. You probably know that she is a Christian Democrat and a close collaborator of Helmut Kohl, who in turn was Merkel’s patron. Actually he was the man who opened the path to policy for her and whom she removed at the right moment for her.

The film presents famous and influential German sociologist Ulrich Beck, who is the author of another book, entitled "From Machiavelli to Merkeliavelli". In it, he states that the policy of Angela Merkel is devoid of moral values, power is everything for her and that the end justifies the means.

Why have you preferred this title?

This is because Merkel uses various methods that are typical of the mafia to enforce her policy, for example. She enforces a law of silence, her associates are "third-category" but stop at nothing, she commits treasons and political "murders" when necessary. Actually, these are the reasons why Höhler has preferred this title for her book too. I use it in the same way.

The most typical example of such a political "murder" is the removal of Helmut Kohl. When he found himself at a disadvantage Merkel betrayed him and urged him to withdraw from the leadership of the Christian Democrats. She did so many times inside the party as well. In practice, she has removed from it all those who disagree with her policy.

How does the fact that Angela Merkel formed her personality in one of the countries of real socialism affect the centre-right policy?

There are some general parameters. As I often say, the regime in the GDR was something between a prison and a kindergarten. On the one hand, it was a prison surrounded by the Berlin Wall and provided with all the restrictions existing in the former socialist countries. On the other hand, when the citizens of the GDR were peaceful and did not respond to the regime, they had no problems and their basic needs such as work, health, etc. were guaranteed. Only those who did not put up with the system had problems, the others lived relatively well.

At the same time, the residents of East Germany were much less informed. As demonstrated in the film, Merkel applies the same model in modern Germany. Local experts say that the Germans have no idea about the real causes of the crisis. They believe that the sacrifices made by them are intended to pay for the needs of the "lazy and corrupt" Greeks, Portuguese, Spanish, etc. In fact, all policies applied at present were created especially to rescue the German and French banks that were exposed to danger and secondly, to help the economic oligarchy in Germany. However, all this is obscure and very few people in Germany are aware of this fact.