By Penelope Galliou

Immigration, Greek-Turkish relations and the economy, in the light of the developments in the Middle East, will be the main triptych of the agenda that will be put on the carpet by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the German Chancellor, Olaf Soltz, during their meeting today in Berlin on the 11 in the morning, while a press conference of the two leaders will follow.

Athens and Berlin consider the migration issue, which is becoming even more urgent and complex, under the pressure of the events and consequences of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, to be of key importance. For this reason, Ankara’s cooperation is considered a key piece in the solution puzzle, with which a revival of the 2016 EU-Turkey joint statement on migration is sought.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to analyze the policy pursued by the ND government over the past year for the management of immigration and the reduction of flows, but at the same time to make it clear that we need legal immigration routes and partnerships with countries with which we can cooperate for to establish a more efficient returns policy. Athens perceives that at the level of the European Council, there is a better understanding that we cannot have an effective immigration policy without the management of the external borders and under these circumstances Mr. Mitsotakis is expected to focus on the economic support of our country for immigration through the revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework.

“I am very clear and direct on this point. We cannot simply agree on 50 billion for Ukraine. We also need to add to the table more money for immigration, more money for cooperation with countries that are partners” the Greek Prime Minister already emphasized during the discussion he had with the leader of the German official opposition and Chairman of the CDU Friedrich Merzat an event.

Mr. Mitsotakis also referred to Turkey’s role in the burning issue of immigration, noting in the same conversation that “we have to cooperate with Turkey when it comes to immigration. This also implies some continuation of payments to Turkey, because it manages a large number of immigrants. Overall, I am slightly more optimistic than I was two years ago, that at least we have a better understanding at European Council level of how complex the situation is and how important it is to ensure that we deal much more effectively with the external aspects of migration.” concluded.

During the Kyriakos Mitsotakis – Olaf Soltz meeting, Greek-Turkish relations will occupy a special place in the background of the geopolitical developments in the Middle East but also in the light of the Athens-Ankara rapprochement which is in full swing with the first milestone being the Mitsotakis Erdogan summit in Thessaloniki, on December 7.

The Greek-Turkish debate is gaining particular interest for the additional reason of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s long-awaited visit to Berlin two days after Kyriakos Mitsotakis left the German capital on Friday.

A visit that has meanwhile already caused reactions in Germany due to Tayyip Erdoğan’s support for Hamas, for which Kyriakos Mitsotakis also reiterated his disagreement with the eviction of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin, remarking however “this is no reason not to welcome President Erdogan to Greece. We will talk about our bilateral relations, we will talk about the relationship between Turkey and Europe, which – to say it again – is very clearly defined by the decisions that have been taken in the European Council. I always try to be constructive and to solve problems rather than add additional difficulties. My principle has always been that in all cases it is better to talk to all parties involved.”

In addition to all of the above, climate change has also been listed on the agenda of the leaders of Greece and Germany, with the prime minister claiming an increase in resources to deal with its consequences from the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework, the prospects for an energy interconnection between Greece and Germany, the enlargement of the EU, which Germany has been intensively promoting for years, and the wider regional and international developments, mainly the conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine.