PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Olaf Scholz gave a press conference/interview after the conclusion of the private meeting they had at Maximos Hall in Athens, which lasted longer than the originally scheduled one hour.
“I was happy to visit the Acropolis which is our shared history. It was there that Democracy manifested itself in practice for the first time. We are partners in the EU and NATO and we have good contact. Greece and Germany are linked by a long history of friendship. It is a great pleasure for me to be in Athens today”, Scholz said in his opening statements.
Mr. Mitsotakis spoke first. “For Athens, the issue of war reparations remains open. Especially the home loan arrangement would be mutually beneficial”, the Greek PM stressed.
In the short dialogue they had earlier in front of the cameras, Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke to the German chancellor about the National Garden, explaining to him that it was built in the 19th century at a time when German influence was still strong in Greece.
Before his meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos Palace, Olaf Scholz made a post on Twitter in which, after wishing the Greek Prime Minister “good morning”, he then referred to the “impressive” Acropolis, adding that he and the Greek Prime Minister will discuss how to reduce the high energy prices. At the same time, he characterised as “good” the fact that Germany and Greece work closely together and are friends in both the EU and NATO.
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Referring to Turkey and the rising tensions with Greece, Scholz responded to a question by saying: “Good neighborliness is in everyone’s interest. The Greek prime minister has clearly stated his position on this”, adding on the issue of the sale of German tanks to Greece, and their possible deployment close to the borders with Turkey, he said: “We gave these armoured vehicles, we never ask what Greece does with them. Greece is a reliable partner in NATO and I will not answer for it. There is no way Alliance member states can dispute sovereignty. For the German reparations, I believe we will support the obligations we have”
Mitsotakis said: “I note Mr. Scholz’s stance. I think that Germany has positioned itself on this issue with absolute clarity. I have briefed the European Council on how we perceive these provocations and how they can be de-escalated. For the German armoured vehicles, I can answer that they will head to Evros because that is where the Armed Forces deem them to be most useful. Regarding the question of German reparations being open, we look forward to a resolution recognising the difficulties that come from the past. The fact that we have not found a solution does not overshadow the level of Greek-German relations and their perspective.”
Καλημέρα @kmitsotakis. Die Akropolis ist beeindruckend. Die gemeinsame Besichtigung mit Dir eine tolle Idee. Gleich sprechen wir über die wichtige Frage, wie wir die hohen Energiepreise runter kriegen. Gut ist: ?? und ??arbeiten eng zusammen – sind Freunde in der #EU und #NATO. pic.twitter.com/J0K0EjhSgc
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) October 27, 2022
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