Greek journalist fined €25,000 for calling Angela Merkel a 'tart'

A Greek journalist who often compares EU dominance over Greek fiscal affairs to the "Fourth Reich" has been fined after referring to German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the "tart of Berlin."

Popular Greek journalist Yiorgos Trangas, who dedicates much of his air time to railing against what he perceives as the German economic occupation of Greece, has been fined for insulting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Trangas was fined €25,000 for referring to Merkel as the "tart of Berlin" during a live radio broadcast of his radio show on Real FM. The National Council of Radio and Television (ESR) imposed the fine. According to Athens News the ESR said Transgas had abused the Greek language and used obscene characterisations to refer to Merkel. Trangas has spoken out against the decision to fine him, saying "At 63, I'm being told that I'm a typical Balkan southerner, who is lazy and a schemer. Really! I've been working since I was 16! I've worked night and day for a half a century. So why are we told we're lazy and crooks?" In addition to his radio show Trangas also has a television programme and writes newspaper columns. He often turns his attention to the economic crisis in Greece and criticises the role of the European Union over Greek fiscal policy. According to Der Spiegel Trangas is obsessed with the "German occupiers" and the austerity measures imposed by the Troika. They quote Trangas saying "Germany doesn't care that 3 million pensioners are dying here," as they then explain to their readers that "The sentence is one of his more harmless utterances on this evening." Regarding Merkel they quote him saying on air "She acts as though she were clean. But in reality, German companies have been paying bribes in Greece for years and handing out risky loans." The German newspaper goes on to accuse figures such as Trangas and cartoonist Stathis Stavropoulos of stirring up anti-German sentiment in Greece, typied by the recent burning of a German flag in Athens. Whilst Trangas may have been fined for offending the sensibilities of the German Chancellor, ten German journalists have been charged with "defamation and insulting a national symbol" over the issue of the cover of German magazine Focus which insulted the Goddess Aphrodite, and an article inside it which referred to Greeks as a “degenerate race."