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Greece

Athens On High Security Alert Ahead Of Merkel Visit

SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, DPA, DAPD, HGN, WOJA (Germany)

Worldcrunch

ATHENS - Some 7,000 police, including reinforcements brought in from across Greece, will be ensuring extra-tight security during German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first visit to Athens since the breakout of the financial crisis.

The government fears the visit on Tuesday could unleash hostility from citizens who hold the Chancellor responsible for the harsh austerity measures their country faces.

In addition to the parliament building and Syntagma Square in central Athens, the German Embassy and Goethe Institute will receive special protection, as will the airport and the hotel where Merkel is based for the six-hour visit.

Greece’s two largest unions have announced a three-hour strike and large demonstration in downtown Athens. The Communists and largest opposition party Syriza have also called for demonstrations. The right-wing, anti-austerity party Independent Greeks intends to demonstrate in front of the Germany Embassy.

Chancellor Merkel’s visit takes place as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s government negotiates 31.5 billion euros worth of further aid for Greece -- which is on the brink of bankruptcy -- with the EU, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Ukrainians In Occupied Territories Are Being Forced To Get Russian Passports

Reports have emerged of children, retirees, and workers being forced by the Russian military and occupying administration to obtain Russian Federation passports, or face prison, beating or loss of public benefits.

Image of a hand holding a red Russian passport.

Russian passport

Iryna Gamaliy

It's referred to as: "forced passportization." Reports are accumulating of police and local authorities in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine requiring that locals obtain Russian passports. Now new evidence has emerged that Ukrainians are indeed being coerced into changing their citizenship, or risk retribution from occupying authorities.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

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Ever since late September, when President Vladimir Putin announced Russia hadd unilaterally annexed four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson), Moscow has been seeking ways to legitimize the unrecognized annexation. The spreading of Russian passports is seen as an attempt to demonstrate that there is support among the Ukrainian population to be part of Russia.

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