German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that the stereotypes claiming Greeks are not hardworking people are wrong, however her statements from May 2011, when she scolded Greeks for taking longer holidays than Germans are still carved in the memories of people in Greece. During her visit in a German school in Berlin, where the majority of students come from migrant families, especially Turks, she said: “It is wrong to say that the Greeks are not hardworking people or that the Germans are stingy.” Furthermore, she added that “when the euro crisis began, it posed a difficult challenge. I always stood against anyone who supported such stereotypes.” “Generous and stingy people can be found everywhere,” she stated, advising children to never generalize such ideas in order to discover the diversity of Europe. However, the Greek people have not yet forgotten about the German Chancellor’s statements in May 2011, when the European and Greek crisis was at its peak. At the time she had stated: “In countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal, employees should not get their pensions earlier than German employees do. It is important that everyone makes equal efforts. We cannot have a common currency while some take longer holidays than others.”
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