https://www.economist.com/europe/2012/10/13/angelas-athens

Greece and Germany

希腊和德国

Angela’s Athens

安吉拉之“踵”

Germany’s chancellor makes a trip to signal her country’s goodwill

德国总理出访雅典，发出亲善信号

Oct 13th 2012 | ATHENS | from the print edition 

AS astiff Aegeanbreezefluttered the hair and lapels of Angela Merkel’s pale-green jacket, one Greek reporter thought the outfit looked familiar. The German chancellor, making a one-day working visit to Athens, seemed to have picked the same jacket she wore in July while watching Germany trounceGreece 4-2 at this year’s European football championship. Was Mrs Merkel planning to blastthe Greeks again, this time for foot-draggingover economic reforms?

当一阵爱琴海的强风吹动安吉拉.默克尔的头发和她浅绿色西装的翻领时，一名希腊记者觉得她这身打扮有几分眼熟。德国总理出访希腊雅典，为期一天，那天她好像挑了那件她今年七月观看欧洲杯时穿的衣服，那场比赛德国队以4：2大胜希腊队。难道默克尔总理计划再次痛击希腊吗？这次是因为希腊在经济改革问题上磨磨蹭蹭吗？

Antonis Samaras, the prime minister, need not have worried. The European Union’s toughest advocate of austerity gave a positive message, even if it was typically cautious. Mrs Merkel said she hoped and wished that Greece would remain a member of the euro zone, praised the country’s progress with cutting expenditure and offered “practical” assistance with structural reforms, such as German expertise on overhauling tax administration and modernising local government.

希腊总理Antonis Samaras原本毋需担心。尽管德国尤其谨慎，但是（默克尔）这位欧盟紧缩政策最强硬的拥护者还是给出了积极信号。她说她希望并祝愿希腊能留在欧元区内，表扬了希腊在裁减支出上的进展，并提供了“实际可行的”结构性改革援助，比如德国专长的税务管理整改和地方政府现代化改革。

The chancellor’s efforts to empathise withordinary Greeks suffering the pain of a five-year recession were less successful. Hostile protesters outside parliament waved banners declaring “Angela you are not welcome”. Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical left-wing Syriza, now the main opposition party in parliament, joined the demonstration, railing against “barbarous” measures imposed by international lenders. Several municipal workers in full Nazi uniform, one of them with an Adolf Hitler moustache, drove a jeep flying swastika flagsthrough a central boulevard as a tasteless reminder of the German occupation of Athens in the second world war.

德国总理在理解希腊百姓遭受五年经济萎靡之苦上所作的努力却不受待见，敌视她的抗议民众在议会大厦外挥舞着横幅呐喊：“安吉拉，这里不欢迎你！”激进左派Syriza（现如今的议会主要反对党）的领袖Alexis Tsipras也加入了这场游行，他痛斥这些国外债主强加于希腊的“野蛮”措施。几名市政员工身着全套纳粹服装，其中一人化着阿道夫.希特勒式的标志胡子，开着飘扬着纳粹十字记号旗的吉普车穿过中央大街，低俗地提醒同胞们德国曾在二战期间占领过雅典。

At one point, as riot police briefly used tear gas and stun grenades to block protesters from approaching the parliament building, it looked as if the visit might backfiredisastrously. Shortly afterwards Karolos Papoulias, the plain-speaking Greek president, told Mrs Merkel the Greeks could not endure much more austerity. At a business gathering, Greece’s senior industrialist complained about pressure on Athens to legislate a lower minimum monthly wage of €580 ($747), aimed at making Greek companies more competitive, The chancellor said mildly she would consult the troika—the EU, European Central Bank, and IMF officials working with the Greek finance ministry on a new €13.5 billion austerity package.

当防暴警察一时间用催泪弹和震撼手榴弹来阻止抗议民众靠近议会大厦时，这次访问在那一刻近乎是灾难性地事与愿违了。这之后不久，希腊总统Karolos Papoulias就直白地告诉默克尔总理希腊人再无法承受进一步紧缩了。在一场商务聚会上，一位希腊资深实业家抱怨雅典因立法将最低月薪降到更低限度的580欧元（747美元）而被施加的压力，降薪目的是让希腊企业更具竞争力。默克尔总理温和地回应称她会就此和“三驾马车”－欧盟、欧洲央行以及国际货币基金组织的官员进行磋商，那些官员正在和希腊财政部商讨一份135亿欧元的紧缩方案。

Mr Samaras’s approval rating at home may benefit from having hosted Europe’s most powerful politician. Even so, he must wrap up the new economic package and persuade the socialist and left-wing party leaders, his coalition partners, to back it before the European summit on October 18th. He must also push the measures through parliament before Greece can draw downa long-overdue €31.2 billion loan disbursement. For as long as government suppliers continue to be unpaid and banks undercapitalised, the cash-starved economy has no prospect of moving again.

希腊总理Samaras的国内支持率或许得益于他对欧洲最强政治家的接待。即便如此，他也必须拿出新经济方案，并在10月18日欧洲峰会前说服社会党和左派领袖（他在联合政党中的搭档）支持他的方案；他还必须在希腊耗尽早就逾期的312亿欧元贷款之前让议会通过他的方案。因为只要政府资助者没收到还款，银行资金不足，那么钱荒的经济局面就无望被打破，寸步难行。

All the measures for 2013, amounting to €9 billion of spending cuts, have been agreed on, including reductions in farmers’ modest pensions and a new tonnage tax that patriotic shipowners whose vessels fly the Greek flag have unexpectedly agreed to pay.The gap for 2014 is “fairly small” and could be closed within days, barring an upset in talks with the troika, negotiators say. Greece should be able to balance its budget next year (before interest repayments). Yet if reforms start falling behind, talk of a “Grexit” from the euro will quickly resurface.

高达90亿欧元支出裁减的2013年全部措施已得到一致同意，其中包括减少农民本就不多的补助，以及新的吨位税（那些船上扬着希腊国旗的爱国船东竟然同意缴纳）。2013和2014年的差距“比较小”，而且差距在数日内就可消除，这隔绝了和“三驾马车”谈判的不适，谈判者如是说。希腊到明年就应该能平衡其预算了（在偿还利息之前）。但是如果改革出现拖滞，那么“希腊离开”欧元区的讨论很快会再次出现。

Mr Samaras hascome a long waysince his centre-right New Democracy party scraped a narrow election victoryin June. As opposition leader he denounced Greece’s first bail-out in 2010. Advisers recall that afterwards Mrs Merkel and the troika berated him as an irresponsible southern European politician. Mr Samaras says Greece has turned a page; he chose to make his first trip abroad as prime minister to Berlin. His efforts may be starting to show results, but Mr Samaras still has a long road ahead.

自从Samaras中右翼的新民主党在6月选举中险胜以来，他已经取得一些进展了。他在做反对党领袖期间曾谴责希腊在2010年的首次纾困。政治顾问回忆说那之后默克尔和“三驾马车”官员曾严斥Samaras是一名不负责任的南欧政客。Samara称希腊已经翻开新的篇章了，他把出任总理后的首次出访地点选在了柏林。他的努力或许会开始显现成果，但他的眼前仍是长路漫漫。

译注：

1.  Angela’s Athens 安吉拉之“踵”

 译者认为本报道英文题目Angela’s Athens源自Achilles’ heel（阿基里斯之踵），meaning a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength that can actually or potentially lead to downfall（Wikipedia）. Given the news content, the deadly weakness refers to Greek while the overall strength, EU.

2. stiff breeze：a fairly strong wind

3. foot-dragging: Reluctance or deliberate delay concerning a decision or action.

4. draw down: DepletebyconsumingorspendingThe government worries about drawing down our oil reserves.

5. come a long way: Makeconsiderableprogressorimprovement