Germany was archenemy #1 for Greeks during the 2010-18 economic crisis for insisting on brutal austerity measures aimed at workers, pensioners and the poor in return for international bailouts, but now is more than welcome.

It was the honored country at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) with protests against then German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her henchman, the now late Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble now mostly forgotten.

“Not so long ago, this would have been unthinkable,” Germany’ state broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) said of the country being celebrated after being vilified, even hated, for bringing so much misery to the most vulnerable Greeks.

https://www.dw.com/en/greece-and-germany-from-anger-to-economic-potential/a-70154970

In the midst of the crisis, Greece was almost pushed out of the Eurozone of the 20 countries using the euro and there were worries that Germany would be the driving force, Schaeuble especially since as a cold axeman.

During those days – a pensioner committed suicide under a tree in the main Syntagma Square near the Parliament – banks were nationalized, state enterprises ordered to be sold off and privatized, incomes and benefits slashed, and Greece lost 25 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – blamed mostly on Germany.

In a 2012 visit to Athens that saw 25,000 demonstrators in the streets, Merkel said Greece was going through a “very difficult phase”and people were suffering but that it would be worth it eventually.

Heightening the tension were occasional calls by Greek governments for Germany to pay World War II reparations for damages and atrocities wrought by the Nazis, Germany insisting the accounts were long ago settled.

Now Greece’s economy has accelerated and even outperformed Germany, the European Union’s biggest economy and Greece is no longer the butt of jokes and derisive remarks about Greeks being lazy and underperforming.

“Greece has one of the strongest growth outlooks in Europe. Once seen as the ‘problem child’ of the Eurozone, Greece has turned things around and now expects real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to grow by 2 percent this year,” said DW.

That’s largely on the back of what looks to be another record tourism year – Germany is Greece’s biggest tourism market, with 4.764 million arrivals from there in 2023 – allowing refinancing of the debt at low interest rates.

Germany was the biggest contributor to three rescue packages of 326 billion euros ($363.58 billion) but Merkel and Schaeuble were unbending in the insistence on crushing austerity to ensure German banks would be repaid.

During Merkel’s visits to Athens, the center of the city had to be cordoned off to protect her and police fired tear gas in clashes with protesters and she was seen as a scourge and pariah who wasn’t welcome.

TIF is used by Prime Ministers to give self-congratulatory speeches about their achievements and policies but also for an honored country to display itself and discussions for business opportunities.

More than 120 German companies took part at the German pavilion that covered more than 6,000 square meters (64,583 square feet) in what the Greek organizers said was “a great opportunity to strengthen and deepen Greek-German political, economic, and business relations.”

Panagiotis Petrakis, Professor Emeritus of economics at the University of Athens. “It is much more important that the Greeks continue to post a primary budget surplus and meet the EU’s requirements,” he told DW.

And there’s big business being done with Germany, as well as trade and German investments helping speed Greece’s rebound. In February 2024, Deutsche Bank reported that Greece had made an “astonishing economic comeback” and had an ‘intact macroeconomic environment.”

The modernization of 14 regional airports by Fraport Greece, a subsidiary of the German airport operator Fraport, is seen as one of the country’s model investment projects, also said the German broadcaster.

Fraport paid 1.24 billion euros ($1.38 billion) for the concessions and invested more than 400 million euros ($446.38 million) in modernizing the run-down airports – including Thessaloniki – and the islands of Mykonos and Rhodes.

“Despite all the tension between the two countries during the Greek sovereign debt crisis, Germany is now Greece’s most important economic partner and a major market for Greek exports,” said DW about trade..

It also added that, “It works both ways: Products that are Made in Germany’ are in great demand in Greece. Indeed, when it comes to imports, Germany is still right at the top of Greece’s list.”