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Over in the eurozone, German chancellor Angela Merkel has paid a visit to Greece - almost 10 years after its debt crisis began.

Angela Merkel on ‘victory tour’ visit to Athens Read more

Amid high security in Athens, the visit is going smoother than Merkel’s last trip, when there were mass protests, cartoonists portraying her as Hitler and demonstrators donning Nazi garb.

My colleague Helena Smith explains: Hailing the progress the debt-stricken had made in the almost ten years since receiving the first of three bailouts, the German leader found it hard to suppress a smile. Tsipras, also smiling broadly, declared that the two-day official visit marked the end “in a difficult cycle of relations between our two countries.” Both leaders will be addressing the media later this PM before Tsipras treats Merkel to dinner in the picturesque Kastella district in Piraeus. As yet, nobody knows if it will be an austerity meal.