Obama urges nations not to give in to isolationist impulses

At a news conference with Mr Obama on Thursday, Mrs Merkel diplomatically said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration “with an open mind”.

Speaking in Athens at the end of the first leg of his final foreign tour, Obama says the trend of improving technology had also led to “enormous disruptions” for many countries and communities, as technology and innovation lead to smaller workforces being used to produce goods.

He added: “I’ve sought a constructive relationship with Russian Federation but have also been realistic in realising that there are some significant differences between how Russian Federation rules the world and how we view the world.In issues like Ukraine, Syria, we’ve had very significant differences”.

Obama, in a speech at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, stressed that although he and Trump disagree on various issues, American democracy transcends its players.

Mr Obama took care of some local business in his speech.

The protests occurred despite Mr. Obama’s goal to help the debt-stricken country convince creditors to grant relief.

But his broader message extended beyond Athens.

“Across Democratic and Republican administrations there is a recognition that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance is absolutely vital”, he said.

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 reminded the Greeks that democracy ensured that a president’s power was checked by the people.

No riots were reported in Thessaloniki, but people still burned American flags.

Obama is on a weeklong, three-stop foreign trip that will also take him to Germany and Peru.

Mr Trump has been criticised for his attitudes toward women and for making fun of a disabled reporter. The boiling frustration among the protesters stems from their view that the United States is responsible for the drastic austerity measures imposed on them as well as its interventions overseas that led to a massive wave of refugees swarming Greece.

“Democracy can be especially complicated”. Democracy is stronger than terrorists and extremists who can not tolerate different ideas, democracies are inclusive, Obama underlined.

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

As a result, Obama instead defended his view – that open markets and democratic societies offer the best hope for human progress, and that an integrated global economy should be embraced even if its current iteration needs a course correction to share its benefits with more people.

He lauded the people’s “extraordinary compassion” for the hundreds of thousands of people who have landed on Greek shores since the start of Europe’s worst migrant crisis since World War II.

Mr Obama highlighted the importance of a free press to expose injustice. During his campaign, Mr Trump accused a USA judge of not being able to be impartial because of his Mexican heritage.

But he acknowledged that the kind of “inclusive economies” and social tolerance he espouses have come under strain, as the glaring inequality between the world’s economic classes has become more evident and different cultures have come into closer proximity with each other.

President Obama traveled to the birthplace of democracy on Wednesday to praise the concept as a great Greek invention and to remind listeners of its burden – living with the outcome of an election, even when you don’t agree with it.