The government agreement recently presented in Berlin by the Christian Union and Ososial Democrats under the leader of Christian Democrats Friedrich Mertz, among other things, includes a small but particularly important mention for Greece. This mention is the continuation of the funding of historical memory programs for the period of World War II and the Occupation through the Hellenic -German Fund for the future.

Specifically, the agreement on the formation of a government notes: “Our intention is to strengthen the Fund for the future with the following countries: Czech Republic, Greece and Italy as well as the German -Greek Cooperation Foundation. We are also committed to directing a place of memory for the victims of German violence and occupation in Poland at the point of the old Crol Opera Opera as well as the creation of a German -Greek home as a memory and meeting place in the heart of Berlin. In order to promote knowledge beyond national borders and European friendship, we will extend and significantly enhance European and bilateral youth institutions as well as specialized centers for European and international exchanges of youth and professionals. “

What is the Greek -German Fund for the future

The Hellenic -German Fund for the future, which measures ten and some years of life, has German resources for scientific and artistic collaboration between Germany and Greece, giving weight to actions, works and studies mainly on Nazi occupation and its multiple imprints in Greece. These projects are not purely German, but common Greek -German initiatives, the German embassy’s website in Greece says. The series of actions, projects, meetings that have already been funded moves on the axes of “the formation of a Greek -German historical memory, reconciliation with martyred cities and villages as well as reconciliation with Jewish communities.”

Among other things, we read on the same website: “With more than 30,000 civilians of the German conquerors in 1941-1944, about 60,000 displaced and murdered Greek Jews, resulting in the almost total destruction of Jewish life in Greece and with more than 100,000 dead by Greece. (…) We cannot, or only in a small part of it, we can repair the injustice that was committed. However, with specific actions and reconciliation gestures we can and do want to underline our unlimited commitment to this obligation. These gestures want to help to enlighten a historical burden, which have not been processed for a long time and for a long time, but also to enhance honestly, honestly and in the long run bilateral relations. “

Steinmeier’s role

On the sidelines of German President Frank Walter-Steinmeier last fall in Greece, at the center of which was on the Greek side the repetition of Greek claims for war allowances and for the occupation loan by the then President Released publications in the German press for serious cuts of funds for the Hellenic -German Fund for the future. According to Spiegel, the German ambassador to Athens, Andreas Kidl, allegedly complained about the German Foreign Minister.

Following DW’s request in Crete, the German president had then stated: “During our discussions in Greece, we saw again how strongly the wounds of the past remain strong to date. This makes it even more important for us to continue working with serious and confidence in new and sustainable points that unite us. The planned cuts in the Greek -German fund for the future send the wrong message. The Fund has been working for a common memory culture since 2014 and is also a significant basis for our common future as close-ups working closely. “

It seems that in the government agreement, the explicit reference to the Hellenic -German Fund for the future is not accidental, following the reactions to cut plans. It remains to be seen what will ultimately be the amount of the new government’s projected funds. It should be noted that both the Fund for Greece and Italy was funded by 2024 with funds reaching one million euros. Specifically in the case of Greece, with 900,000 euros, while the Tri -Command Solds government, before it was dismantled, had foreseen in its own draft budget mass cuts 2/3.

A spokesman for the German Foreign Minister had confirmed last fall of 2024 the planned cuts, in the context of wider cuts in the field of culture. The German side, however, had referred to the parallel funding of the erected museum of the Polocaust in Thessaloniki with funding of the German Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs of 10 million euros.