Greece, Germany put tension behind them in Merkel visit

Germany and Greece put years of tension over the painful Greek bailout program behind them with Chancellor Angela praising the improvement of the country's finances during a heavily policed visit to Athens.

Many Greeks blame Merkel for the austerity they suffered for much of the past decade, which led to a sharp and prolonged recession and a bad deterioration in living standards.

But very few turned out on the streets to protest the visit, more out of lack of engagement than because of a police ban on demonstrations in the city centre.

Out of the two protest marches called by fringe groups against Merkel's visit, one by the Nazi-inspired far-right Golden Dawn party was cancelled.

The second, by left-wing groups, had a turnout of only 400 a few dozen of whom peeled off from the march and briefly broke a police cordon before being driven back with tear gas.

During talks with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Thursday, Merkel highlighted how strong initial differences with his left-led government were gradually overcome over the past four years.

"Trust was developed between us, there was frankness as we kept in mind that we needed to find a solution," she told a news conference.

"I know people went through great difficulty (in Greece) and had to undergo very hard and harsh reforms."