Nude demonstrator is one of 50,000 protesters in Athens as Angela Merkel is met with burning swastikas and Greek riot police battle crowds with teargas.
- First visit by German Chancellor since the euro zone crisis began in 2009 - and she says MORE must be done to cut Greece's deficit
- Around 7,000 police round up 50 protesters, using teargas to subdue some
- Demonstrators try to break through barricade hundreds of metres from Mrs Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
- Teachers, doctors and public employees stop work as sign of support
Greek police fired teargas and stun grenades at protesters in central Athens on Tuesday when they tried to break through a barrier and reach visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Around 50,000 demonstrators defied a ban on protests, gathering in Syntagma square to voice their displeasure with the German leader. Some wore Nazi uniforms and others burned swastika flags, while one left police dumbstruck by running through the city naked.
Police were pelted with rocks, bottles and sticks as demonstrators tried to break through a barricade set up to protect Merkel and her delegation, who were meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras at his office several hundred metres away.
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Going to war on austerity: Demonstrators dressed as Nazis wave a swastika flag as they ride in an open-top car in Syntagma Square, Athens
Fuelling the flames: Demonstrators burn a flag emblazoned with a swastika during the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Under fire: The protesters applaud and cheer as the flag is destroyed amid anti-German chants.
At least 50 protesters were rounded up and roads were closed amid angry scenes, which police described as one of the biggest anti-austerity demonstrations they had seen in months.
Two protesters dressed in German military uniforms waved a red, black and white swastika flag and held out their arms in the Nazi salute.
Welcome to Greece: Mrs Merkel is greeted at Athens International Airport by Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
As helicopters buzzed overhead, thousands of protesters chanting 'History is written by the disobedient' gathered peacefully in front of Greek parliament, while one group of demonstrators burned a swastika and threw it onto a police barrier.
'I have no doubt that Merkel has good intentions and wants to help, but that won't solve Europe's problem,' retired teacher Irini Kourdaki said.
The demonstrators included a group of special forces reservists in uniform who chanted 'Merkel out of Greece' in time to their march.
'All the Greek people must rally together to rid the country of all those who oppress and humiliate us,' Navy reservist Giorgos Drakopoulos said.
Merkel was given the red carpet treatment and full military honours at Athens airport.
Prime Minister Samaras greeted her with a handshake as she exited the German air force jet and a band played the German and Greek national anthems.
In the centre of Athens, the reception was less warm. On Syntagma square, banners read 'Merkel out, Greece is not your colony' and 'This is not a European Union, it's slavery'.
Provocative: The protesters even wore gas masks during their Nazi publicity stunt
You've driven us to this: The spoof Nazi officers made their way through the crowd in a car.
'We don't want her here. Merkel go home,' said Maria Dimitriou, a 40-year-old unemployed woman who travelled to Athens from southern Greece to protest. 'They've turned our lives into hell.'
Teachers, doctors and other public employees stopped work on Tuesday in a gesture of protest, while trade unions and opposition political parties took to the streets, risking confrontation with police.
Speaking after her meeting, Mrs Merkel insisted Greece had achieved important reform successes, but more was needed to reduce debt and restore competitiveness.
'A lot has been accomplished,' she said after her meeting with Mr Samaras. 'I think that recently the pace of reform has picked up considerably.'
Naked fury: Did Angela Merkel's austerity measures cost this man the shirt on his back?
Greece's cupboard is bare... and so am I: The protester salutes his fellow demonstrators as they cheer him on to the bemusement of police
Arresting sight: These policemen can't believe their eyes as the naked protester runs past them.
Mr Samaras admitted the Greeks were 'bleeding' but would stick to their reform pledges and were determined to stay in the euro.
Today's clashes followed a rally by 2,000 demonstrators last night, when they were seen holding banners blaming Mrs Merkel for 'the disaster of their lives' ahead of her first visit to the country since the euro zone crisis began in 2009.
Authorities took no chances, with 7,000 police on the streets, anti-terrorist units, rooftop snipers and road closures blocking demonstrators from reaching parts of the capital.
German sites in the Greek capital, including the embassy and Goethe Institute, were under special protection.
Even in unrestricted areas, officers were stopping people on the streets to check their bags.
Storm cloud: Protesters turn and flee as police use tear gas
Flee: Protesters, some wearing masks, are forced back by riot police's tear gas
Violence: Protesters clash with riot policemen in front of the Parliament building in Athens
Suited and booted: A well dressed protester tries to reason with riot police outside the parliament building.
One group of officers detained and led away more than ten men, including one who shouted that he was an official with the main opposition radical left Syriza party.
The Greek government see Mrs Merkel's five-hour stop as an historic boost for the country's future in Europe's shared currency. But unions see it as a sign of more austerity and hardship to come.
Last night's protest saw demonstrators holding banners comparing Mrs Merkel to Adolf Hitler and other offensive slogans. One said 'Don't buy German products, resistance against fourth Reich'.
Other banners at the protest, organised by the Greek Union Of Private Sector Employees and the Greek Union Of Public Sector Employees, read 'For the disaster of our lives, we will become a nightmare' and 'Merkel Raus!' (Merkel Out!)
Many of Europe's leading politicians have avoided official travel to Greece and the risk of a hostile reception, as the debt-saddled country struggled to keep up with commitments needed to guarantee rescue loan payments and long-term euro membership.
Missile: Rioter throws a rock at police amid a cloud of tear gas
Fancy a scrap? Protester throws a piece of metal during the violence in Athens
Low slung: This rioter seems to be struggling to keep his clothes on as he slings a rock outside the parliament building.
But Mrs Merkel, heading Europe's largest bailout contributor, accepted Samaras's invitation to Athens despite failure by his government so far to conclude a massive new austerity package.
The cuts will save 13.5billion euros but doom Greece to a sixth year of recession in 2013.
Draconian security measures included a ban on public gatherings outside the German Embassy and other parts of central Athens as well as within 100 metres of her motorcade route from the airport.
Samaras's own partners in his coalition government described the police measures as excessive.
And Greece's main labour union, the GSEE, called them a 'display of force... aimed at cancelling our democratic rights'.
Walking wounded: Protesters assist an injured demonstrator during clashes in front of the parliament
Putting the boot in: Demonstrator covers his head as he lies on the ground and is surrounded by police
Surrounded: The protester on the ground is quickly swamped by riot police
Grapple: A police officer grabs a woman demonstrator as another protester wrestles with him
Bad trip: A protester trying to flee police stumbles over a demonstrator who has already been dragged to the ground
Greece's debt crisis started in late 2009 after it misreported deficit figures, triggering fears that debts in other eurozone countries may also be at risk.
Since May 2010, the country has depended on bailouts from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund.
But to get the loans, it implemented successive pay cuts and tax hikes, while increasing retirement ages and facilitating private sector layoffs that are expected to push the rate of unemployment up next year to nearly one in every four workers.
'These measures are hitting every Greek family - hurting our children,' Nikos Papageorgiou, head of a hotel workers' union in greater Athens said at last night's rally.
'People should not be afraid to protest because of the police measures. No one can deny us the right to ask for a better life.'
I wood think twice about that: Protester wields a piece of fence in front of a dozen riot officers
Sticks and stones: Protesters threw improved missiles at police
Mask: Protester hides his face as he clashes with riot police by a barrier put up to protect the parliament building
Slur: A man holds a placard saying 'From Hitler to Merkel' in front of the German embassy in Athens
Swastika: The Nazi symbol is daubed on a banner that reads 'No to the fourth reich' outside the Athens parliament
Symbol of hate: The protesters made many references to Germany's wartime history
Ridicule: Demonstrators gather in front of the Greek parliament where posters of Angela Merkel depicted as a clown hang from street posts.
Many Greeks blame Merkel, who has publicly chastised them for much of the past three years, for the nation's plight.
'She does not come to support Greece, which her policies have brought to the brink. She comes to save the corrupt, disgraced and servile political system,' said Alexis Tsipras, who leads the opposition Syriza alliance.
'We don't want her here,' said Yannis Georgiou, 72, who has seen his pension cut by a third.
'We will take to the streets against austerity and against the government. Maybe Merkel will hear something and see what we're going through.'
After toying with the idea of a Greek exit from the euro zone in the first half of 2012, Mrs Merkel has come full circle and decided the risks of the country leaving are too high, especially with a German election looming next year.
Taking no chances: An armoured truck blocks a road near the German Embassy in Athens
Rounded up: Civilians are detained as a precaution by riot police prior to yesterday's protest in Athens
Caution: Riot police detain youths near the parliament building a few hours before the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The trip is a sign of German solidarity, a message to the Greek leadership and people that Berlin does not want to cut them loose, and a signal to the members of Mrs Merkel's coalition who want Greece out that it's not going to happen soon.
At the same time, the trip shows Mrs Merkel's trust in Samaras. Aides to the chancellor say they have been positively surprised by his commitment to reform.
One reason for not visiting Greece before was frustration with progress under his predecessors, technocrat Lucas Papademos and Socialist George Papandreou.
'In our view Samaras is really trying to get things done,' one German official said, requesting anonymity. 'Nobody should see this trip as a sign that all is perfect. But we recognise things are moving in the right direction.'
The Greek government was ecstatic about the news, promising to treat Merkel with the honours befitting the leader of a great nation.
Greek officials credited Samaras's charm offensive in Berlin in August for Germany's change of heart.
Demand: Demonstrator holds a banner that reads 'Frau Merkel Get Out' in front of the Greek Parliament building in Athens.
'Samaras showed a real will to change things,' a Greek government official said. 'He stressed what Greece had to do, not what others had to do for Greece.'
Merkel is scheduled to meet Samaras, President Karolos Papoulias and representatives of Greek industry.
In a measure of tension between Athens and Berlin earlier this year, Papoulias accused Merkel's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of insulting the country by likening Greece to a bottomless pit.
For years, banner headlines and cartoons in the press have portrayed Germany as a bully and protesters burned Nazi effigies on the central Syntagma Square outside parliament.
The visit gave Merkel a chance to get a first-hand view of a country that could have a major influence on her own re-election hopes.
Greece is stuck in tough negotiations with inspectors from the 'troika' of the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank over a fresh wave of 11.5billion euros in cuts for the next two years, a condition for getting an installment of the 130billion euro bailout which is keeping the country afloat.
As difficult as these talks are, lenders are now realising Greece needs more time, money or both.
Insult: Athens demonstrator's poster depicts Adolf Hitler and Angela Merkel and reads 'Don't buy German products, resistance against fourth Reich'
Anger: A demonstrator holds a banner that reads 'Merkel Raus!' (Merkel Out!) in Athens last night
Fury: Protesters hold a banner declaring austerity measures the 'disaster of our lives' last night in Athens
Loud and clear: Protesters hold a Greek flag as another uses a loudspeaker last night in Athens.
The IMF wants official lenders such as Germany to take a 'haircut', under which the value of the Greek debt they hold would be radically reduced.
Private bondholders have already swallowed such a hit but EU partners prefer other measures than to suffer more losses.
In order to avoid going back to parliament to request a third rescue for Athens - a step Mrs Merkel's allies acknowledge could be political suicide for her - Germany will probably have to agree to other concessions to plug a hole in Greece's finances.
These could include giving Samaras an extra two years to make painful cuts and agreeing to a reduction in the interest rates Athens pays on its EU loans.
Before making concessions that are sure to provoke a backlash at home, Merkel will want to look Samaras in the eye and make clear to him that she has done all she can - that it is now up to him.
Politically, she will have next to no room to give the Greeks more before next year's German vote.
VIDEO: Police fire tear gas at protesters as tensions rise in Athens
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