Many differences between Trump and I: Obama

Barack Obama offered solidarity with Greece over its debt and migrant crises yesterday (15 November) during his final trip to Europe as United States president before handing over power to Donald Trump.

In what is likely to stand as his final major address overseas, Mr Obama in Athens invoked the roots of Western civilisation forged 25 centuries ago by philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle, giving rise to concepts of individual freedom, equality and the rule of the people. “We can not simply look to austerity as a strategy”, Obama said after talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

With the US presidential election of Republican Donald Trump laying bare frustrations and dissatisfaction in America, Obama said the impulse to “pull back from a globalized world is understandable”. “But given the nature of technology it is my assertion that it’s not possible to cut ourselves off”.

But at the end of a two-day visit to Greece, he reassured his audience that USA democracy was bigger than any one person and as long as people maintained their basic faith in democracy, “our future will be OK”.

“Even as we see a transition of governments in the United States, across Democratic and Republican administrations, there’s a recognition that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance is absolutely vital and the transatlantic relationship is the cornerstone of our mutual security”, he said.

Before Obama’s speech, he toured Greece’s most famous ancient monument, the Acropolis citadel.

A crowd of roughly 3,000 protesters, some armed with clubs and Molotov cocktails, were marching towards the American embassy when they attempted to enter an off-limits area near Greek President Procopis Pavlopoulos’ residence, where he was hosting a dinner with Obama.

The first US president to visit Greece since Bill Clinton in 1999, Obama was in Athens to discuss the country’s financial problems and the possibility of further debt relief from Europe, but he seemed preoccupied by events back home.

Police officers look at flames from a fire bomb thrown by demonstrators during a protest against the visit of US President Barack Obama in Athens, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. Obama listed the freedom of speech and worship, freedom of the press, and the separation of powers as values shared by the democracies of Greece and the USA, perhaps as a pointed jab at President-elect Donald Trump, whom Obama had previously deemed “uniquely unqualified” to be president.

Speaking during Tuesday’s news conference, Tsipras said he had refrained from criticizing Trump after his election win – although he had made critical comments during the election campaign.

Extolling the strength and merits of democracy, he said: “Democracy is stronger than organisations like ISIS”.

Obama is offering reassurances during a speech in Athens that “our future will be OK”.

Obama said he was looking forward to visiting the Acropolis because “if you come to Greece you’ve got to do a little bit of sightseeing”. The crowd clapped approvingly at several points during Obama’s remarks, but appeared more focused on his approving references to Greece’s economic plan and willingness to host refugees than his broader remarks.

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