A chancellor on the Acropolis: Soltz on Thursday in Athens, meeting with Mitsotakis – The heavy agenda
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomes the German chancellor in Athens on Thursday Olaf Solz. The visit is a “heavy” agenda, in an atmosphere of good cooperation in wartime, but also a walk in the Acropolis.
Five of her 16 years as chancellor, Angela Merkel traveled to Athens, met different prime ministers (Kosta Karamanlis, Antonis Samaras, Alexis Tsipras, Kyriakos Mitsotakis) in different political and economic situations, culminating in her years. It is now the turn of a male chancellor, the first since Gerhard Schroeder in 2004, the also Social Democrat Olaf Solz.
Summit-background: Mitsotakis in the role of a bridge-builder – The contacts with Soltz-Draghi for a final agreement
Soltz’s official visit to Athens on October 26 and 27 – The program
This trip is long-awaited from the Greek side, but it has also been high on the German agenda for a long time. Now, the years of the Greek financial crisis and imposed austerity belong to history, however the war in Ukraine and the geopolitical upheavals in the eastern Mediterranean, with “threats” and “unfriendly” statements (according to the phraseology of the German government newsletters) becoming daily ) on behalf of the Turkish leadership make it necessary to confirm the cherished Greek-German relations, away from the shadows of the past.
Olaf Solz’s scheduled press conference with Kyriakos Mitsotakis took place at 12:00 noon on Thursday, October 27, one day after Olaf Solz’s critical visit to Paris. But also one day before October 28, the national anniversary, with the German Marder armored vehicles from the Berlin-Athens circular exchange of weapon systems agreement in support of Kiev expected at the Thessaloniki military parade.
The presence of the German chancellor in Athens will be short, with no other meetings. Only with a visit to the Acropolis, the eternal symbol of the Republic, where the Nazis raised the swastika during World War II.
Tank equipment and equipment
But back to the agenda. It is no secret that for the German government the importance of the idiosyncratic tank exchange (40 German Marder for Greece and 40 Greek, Soviet-type, old BMP-1 for Ukraine) is great. With the “Ringtausch” agreements, which the German government has been launching for months with Greece and the countries of Eastern Europe, e.g. Czech Republic or Poland, is trying to implement its promise of military support of Ukraine in the field with tanks. Except that it does not want to send directly to Ukraine itself, so as not to become a “belligerent”, but through third countries, which in turn benefit from upgrading their capabilities.
However, in the case of the conversation with Greece, intense movement has been registered in recent weeks, the announcements from the German and Greek sides follow one another, while, according to a recent publication of “Welt”, the German equipment giant KMW plans additional cooperation on Greek soil . with the “Mytileneos” group, in the context of the production of state-of-the-art Leopard 2 armored vehicles. Official announcements are expected for all of this in the coming days.
German interest in Greece’s energy prospects
From then on, the German interest in the energy prospects that Greece now dynamically offers in the field of renewable energy production but also in the field of storage and transport of other energy sources, such as liquefied natural gas LNG, is strong. Greece’s image as an “energy exporter” to Europe through new, safe energy routes was also emphasized on Monday from Berlin by the Minister of Energy, Kostas Skrekas.
As for the Greek-Turkish issues, although the German government still remains sparing in statements and perhaps not as outgoing as the Foreign Ministry and the Green Foreign Minister Analena Burbock, nevertheless the messages sent for a long time from Berlin are in favor of Greece and the territorial . of integrity in the Aegean, but definitely carefully. After all, Greece’s border with Turkey is also a European external border.
Is it time to touch on refugee, submarine and reparations?
In such a complex context and with a great need for positive messages of cooperation, will the big “thorn” of refugee management be discussed, in the shadow of the now daily reports in the German media about shadowy practices of violence and illegal refoulements on the Greek-Turkish border? Will the other side also be asked for “explanations” on the issue of the sale of German submarines to Turkey? Or does the German answer “pacta sunt servanda” still apply to previously concluded agreements?
Finally, will a new one enter, as in the summer in Athens from Nikos Dendias to Analena Burbok, the issue of Greek claims for war reparations and the threshold from the period of the Second World War and the devastating invasion of the Wehrmacht? Or is the occasion not right?
However, the German sources estimate that, even if the current Polish government of the ultraconservative PiS may seek an alliance with Greece in the field of legal claims for war reparations, Greece for the time being appears to have other, more urgent priorities to claim. something. such and indeed together with Poland: the management of the consequences of the great war raging in Ukraine, the economic and political stability and the avoidance of a dangerous ignition off the Aegean Sea.
Source: DW