Protest in Athens 9/10/2012

Police fired tear gas as angry protesters clashed with officers in Athens as thousands rallied in the Greek capital in protest against German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit. Merkel is in Athens for austerity talks with the country’s Prime Minister.

­Angry protesters picked stones from the cracked pavement and hurled them at police. AFP estimated that at least 100,000 people turned out to express their anger at Greece’s austerity policies.

Demonstrators hoisted banners reading, “Merkel out, Greece is not your colony” and “This is not a European Union, it’s slavery.”

Teachers, doctors and other public employees went on strike Tuesday, taking to the streets of Athens alongside trade unions and opposition political parties. Many Greeks say they cannot take more of the wage cuts and tax hikes that have left every fourth person in the public sector jobless.

At least 40 people were detained near Syntagma Square, including students and members of a ‘Solidarity Network’ protest bloc, seen with banners and megaphones, Athens News reported. Local officials did not confirm the number of arrests.

As protesters raged in the streets, Greek PM Antonis Samaras welcomed his “friend” Angela Merkel. After talks with Samaras, Merkel said that the EU country “has done a lot, but much remains to be done.” Merkel vowed that she wanted Greece “to remain in the euro.”

Samaras responded by saying that Greeks were “bleeding,” but would stick with their austerity program and were likewise determined to stay in the eurozone.

Merkel’s trip to Athens lasted six hours.

Authorities issued permits for only two of the planned protests. At least 7,000 police from across the country were deployed in Athens, including rooftop snipers, water cannons and hundreds of undercover agents. Security forces erected steel fences around the capital’s parliament building.

Locals said that snipers were stationed on the roof tops of government buildings in Athens, and that commando units were also seen on standby as helicopters patrolled the skies over Athens.

“It will be one of the biggest security drills in recent years,” said a senior police official who chose to remain anonymous.

These extreme measures are being put in place because Merkel’s brief visit comes amid growing unrest in Greece over new cutbacks.Greek authorities, who are struggling to talk bailout creditors into unfreezing a vital loan installment, appear determined to prevent riots whilst Merkel is in town.

Public Order Minister, Nikos Dendias, called on protesters to “protect the peace, and above all our country’s prospects and our international image.”