German media fuels public resentment over Greek bailout

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/21/german-media-bild-greece-bailout-resentment

German anger over the second Greek bailout shows no sign of disappearing, with the popular press stoking indignation at the billions of euros Germany will have to pay to keep Greece afloat.

Adding to the insult in some German eyes is a perceived ungratefulness in Athens. On Tuesday the tabloid Bild ran a picture of a Greek banner calling Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy "Nazis", with the yellow stars of the EU flag rearranged into a swastika. "We pay – still we are abused!" said the headline.

"Why is it always the Germans who are the bogeymen in Greece?" asked Bild, which sells 3m copies a day, "although we have given the most credit and guarantees in order to stop the country from completely going under?"

Finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble fuelled the debate by suggesting the Greeks should export their sunshine to Germany in exchange for money.