Greece and Germany bury the hatchet, but Second World War reparations still cast a shadow

The sight of Angela Merkel being given a warm welcome in Athens this week will have come as a relief to anyone with a stake in European stability.

It was a far cry from the days of the Euro crisis, when protesters built a gallows outside the Greek parliament with a sign that read “Reserved for Merkel”, and the Greek newspapers printed mock-ups of her in SS uniform.

On her last visit to Athens in 2014, protestors gave her the Nazi salute and Alexis Tsipras, then still an opposition leader, told her to go home.

Now Greek prime minister, Mr Tsipras was more welcoming this week. “Today you are coming to a different Greece,” he told Mrs Merkel. “We are no longer part of the problem, but part of the…

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