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Bloomberg: Merkel's Athens visit in defence of global order

Featured Bloomberg: Merkel's Athens visit in defence of global order

Bloomberg, in an article entitled "Merkel Enters Her Endgame Marking Out Defense of Global Order," dotes on the two-day visit of Angela Merkel to Greece.

The German leader begins 2019 with a two-day trip to Greece, her first visit in five years to the crisis-scarred country that posed two of the defining challenges of her career.

Merkel flies to Athens Thursday for a meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and a dinner hosted by the Greek leader. The schedule will be filled out Friday with a wreath-laying ceremony, a meeting with Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos and a chat with students at the German School of Athens.

Merkel’s Priorities
The full program, a contrast with her brief stopover in April 2014, is a reminder of the geopolitical crises that shaped Merkel as Europe’s preeminent leader -- the euro crisis and Europe’s migration turmoil. It’ll mark Greece’s exit from an eight-year bailout program and its economic recovery.

Merkel also arrives at a precarious moment in Greece’s name dispute with its northern neighbor, the Republic of Macedonia [as Bloomberg calls FYROM], a conflict that has implications for NATO expansion and Russian influence in the Balkan region. The German leader has come out strongly in favor of the proposed settlement, which has opened divisions in Tsipras’s governing coalition.

The trip signals Merkel’s ambitions to defend the postwar global order against an onslaught of populist movements and the unpredictable presidency of Donald Trump. Merkel’s primary theme since Trump took office two years ago has been addressing the risks tied to the eroding global trade and security order.

However, the article, besides the Athens visit also focuses on Merkel's noting that the trip signals Merkel’s ambitions to defend the postwar global order against an onslaught of populist movements and the unpredictable presidency of Donald Trump. Merkel’s primary theme since Trump took office two years ago has been addressing the risks tied to the eroding global trade and security order.