Liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner visits Athens on Tuesday – The message he is sending to the government – This is the first visit of a German Finance Minister after Wolfgang Schieble.
His visit German Chancellor Olaf Solz in Thessaloniki last Friday for a “Balkan dinner” at the invitation of the Prime Minister Kyriakou Mitsotaki highlighted the importance of close Greek-German relations Deutsche Welle emphasizes stability, security and cooperation in the wider Balkan region.
And maybe her long-awaited visit Foreign Minister Analena Berbock was canceled by the Greens due to a coronavirus disease, but the “parade” of top German politicians in Greece does not stop. On Tuesday, The German Minister of Finance Christian Lindner is going to Athens from the Liberals for talks with both his counterpart Christos Staikouras and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. This is the first visit of the Minister of Finance of the new German government of Social Democrats-Greens-Liberals, after 16 years of Merkel.
In view of the visit of Christian Lindner to Athens, the German Ministry of Finance answered a relevant question of the Greek service of Deutsche Welle as follows: “Federal Finance Minister Lindner will meet with the Greek Minister of Finance and the Greek Prime Minister. The purpose of the visit is to give a message about the cooperation between Germany and Greece in the field of fiscal policy. Finance Minister Lindner is thus the first federal finance minister to travel to Greece since 2013. The content of the talks will address current issues as well as the reform process in Greece. A press conference will follow. ”
From Wolfgang Schieble to Christian Lindner
It is worth noting that the last visit of a German Minister of Finance to Greece was his Wolfgang Schäuble, specifically in July 2013, when Giannis Stournaras was Minister of Finance and Antonis Samaras was Prime Minister. The agenda at that time was monopolized by the European crisis and the Greek issue, with V. Seibel advocating the doctrine of harsh austerity by rejecting a haircut of the Greek debt.
Christian Lindder, like the majority of the German Liberals, then maintained a strict line towards Greece, sometimes even harder than the Seibel line, also disagreeing with the relaxation of the terms of the Stability Pact.
But the data has changed significantly since then. Europe has left behind the single currency crisis. Merkel’s long tenure is a thing of the past and Greece is a stable member of the eurozone. New Finance Minister Christian Lindner in an interview in late 2021 had even praised Greece, calling it the “model” for Germany in terms of its reform zeal.
With your eyes fixed (and) on the Eurogroup
Lindner’s visit to the Greek capital on Tuesday, in the shadow of the war in Ukraine, of worrying inflationary trends across Europe and the impending energy crisis, is expected with great interest.
Lastly, the choice of this date should not be taken for granted, as the crucial Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg on 16 June high on the agenda is the exit of Greece from the enhanced surveillance regime based on the 14th assessment for the Greek economy. The political decision on this is expected at the end of August.
DW – Dimitra Kyranoudi, Berlin
