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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Full Focus Editor's choice A selection of our top photos from the past 24 hours. Full Article Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Predictor of May 21 Judgment Day to monitor news broadcasts | 11:06am EDT Whistleblower says Russian troops fed dog food 11:31am EDT Media zoom in on mystery Schwarzenegger mistress | 18 May 2011 Predictor of May 21 doomsday to watch it on TV 10:57am EDT Strauss-Kahn arrives at court for bail hearing | 11:59am EDT Discussed 102 Texas county official says ”stupid” feds sparked fire 80 Israel-Palestinian violence erupts on three borders 68 Boehner says ready to cut budget deal today Watched Fire ants form rafts to defy floods Tue, Apr 26 2011 End of the world as we know it...on May 21 Wed, May 18 2011 Schwarzenegger's mistress identified, Oprah hosts celebrity send-off 1:43am EDT Europe's south bashes Merkel for "work harder" quip Tweet Share this By Dina Kyriakidou ATHENS (Reuters) - Southern Europeans lashed out at German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, accusing her of twisting the facts to score cheap political gains when she urged them to take fewer holidays and retire... Email Print Related News IMF says Greece must "reinvigorate" reform drive Wed, May 18 2011 Euro gains but seen susceptible to Greek debt Tue, May 17 2011 EU breaks taboo, talks of Greek debt restructuring Tue, May 17 2011 HIGHLIGHTS-Comments by EU finance ministers, officials Tue, May 17 2011 Euro zone eyes Greek debt move, backs Portugal aid Mon, May 16 2011 Analysis & Opinion IMF fracas offers chance for Third World revamp Why DSK’s arrest is bad for the IMF, France, and Greece Related Topics World » Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel walks to the podium during the Millennium Development Goals Summit at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 21, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton By Dina Kyriakidou ATHENS | Thu May 19, 2011 1:41pm EDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Southern Europeans lashed out at German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, accusing her of twisting the facts to score cheap political gains when she urged them to take fewer holidays and retire later. Politicians, media and labor unionists from Mediterranean countries bashed Merkel for playing up Europe's north-south divide to appease German voters who are angry at having to bail out euro zone periphery countries in deep debt trouble. "She is relying on populism," the liberal Athens daily Eleftherotypia said in its main editorial. "It is tragic that Mrs Merkel leads Europe's most powerful country at this critical hour." Merkel, under fire at home for handing billions of euros to Greece, Ireland and Portugal while raising retirement ages for Germans, said late on Tuesday that holiday and pension rules in Europe need to be unified. "(People) in countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal should not retire earlier than in Germany. We should all make the same efforts, this is important," she told a party event in Meschede, western Germany. "We cannot have a currency (the euro) with one person getting lots of holiday and another person very little. Long term this can't work," she said. Her comments raised hackles across southern Europe, with many media producing figures showing Germans and other north Europeans actually enjoyed more holidays. "The problem is that the postcard picture of Mediterranean people relaxed on the beach with a glass of wine and fried fish works for tabloid newspapers," Danilo Taino wrote in Italian daily Corriere Della Sera. The daily Greek tabloid Espresso took a more ironic approach: "Now workers will leave for their summer holidays guilt-ridden and deeply troubled, thinking of Angela Merkel." GERMANS HAVE MORE FUN Labor union officials and media in several countries produced figures from statistics agencies showing Germans actually take more holiday than most Europeans and retire on average about the same time as others. Germans take on average 30 days of holidays a year, compared to 22-25 in Portugal, 23 in Greece and 22 in Spain. There are 10-12 national holidays in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal while Germans enjoy just 9 and Slovakia has 15. "Merkel's remarks reflect the principle of xenophobia that should not exist at this high level of European politics," Armenio Carlos, coordinator of Portugal's largest union CGTO told Reuters. "She spoke of something she doesn't know." He said people in Portugal work more hours than in Germany, earn much less and in much more precarious conditions, while they do not retire before 65. Spaniards also took offence, saying Merkel chose to ignore their sacrifices in the face of severe austerity measures and high unemployment to get out of an economic crisis. "According to the latest OECD figures for April, the Germans work a total of 7 hours and 25 minutes a day and the French one minute longer, while the Spaniards work almost eight hours a day," said state RTVE television. Greece's deputy Culture Minister, George Nikitiadis, said Greeks were working more hours a week than Germans on average and were making a huge effort to turn their economy around. But he did not mind at all that Germans, Greece's biggest tourist clients, enjoyed more holidays than Greeks. "We would like the Germans to have even more holidays so they can spend more days in our country," he told Reuters. Portugal's main opposition party leader, Social Democrat Pedro Passos Coelho, who leads in opinion polls ahead of a June 5 snap general election, acknowledged the need for a more uniform EU labor market but warned against going overboard. "But, what the heck, let's leave a small level of disorganization so that the people don't feel they are wearing a straightjacket, so that they can, in the good south European style, show their joy, their capacity to socialise," he told a conference in Lisbon. (Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens, Robert Hetz in Madrid, Catherine Hornby in Rome, Andrei Khalip in Lisbon and European bureaux; editing by Mark Heinrich) World Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. 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