While Greek-German relations in the economy, in trade, in culture remain very close, there are also many “thorns”, with the sharpest being the special relationship between Berlin and Ankara. Comment by Kaki Bali. In the debate on foreign policy that took place the day before yesterday in the Greek Parliament, one of the political leaders, Dimitris Natsios of “Niki”, claimed that the German foreign minister came to Athens the other day to pressure the government to put Turkey in the SAFE program. Almost no one noticed the inaccuracy, as the postponement of the visit of the head of German diplomacy to Athens passed in the blink of an eye.

In previous phases there would have been endless scenarios about what was behind the postponement. Many would have wondered aloud why Giorgos Gerapetritis chose to rush to Sharm El Sheikh, instead of staying in Athens to welcome his German counterpart Johan Vandeful? Was it more important to him to accompany the prime minister to a historic peace summit, even as an applause on the Donald Trump show, or did he find a good excuse to avoid an awkward visit?

From what we learned, Gerapetritis did not have any important meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, only “a good opportunity to exchange views”. Vandeful, for his part, did not accompany Chancellor Mertz to the US president’s abdication session and continued his mini-tour in Sofia and Bucharest. Now the goal is to find a new appointment in Athens “as soon as possible”.

“Normal” after the memoranda

The truth is that, unlike previous periods, in this phase there is no tension in Greek-German relations. A “normality” prevails between partners in the EU. and NATO, while Berlin and Athens have the same attitude towards the two wars in our neighborhood. in Ukraine and the Middle East. From the first moment, Germany, as well as traditionally pro-Russian Greece, stood by Ukraine after the Russian invasion, while Mertz and Mitsotakis supported Israel and the Netanyahu government as little as possible.

Moreover, the pressures of German ministers on Athens to “do its homework”, as was the case during the years of the memorandums, have disappeared. On the contrary, it is Greece that now shows the way, both in fiscal consolidation and in the flexibility of work – which Chancellor Mertz had admired when he welcomed Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Berlin.

Without… love

However, despite the new convergences, despite the fact that Mitsotakis (ND) and Mertz (CDU) belong to the same political faction, despite the close commercial, economic and cultural relations between the two countries, despite the many German tourists in Greece and the perfectly integrated Greek guest workers in Germany, there is no special love in Greek-German relations.

One reason is the memory of German arrogance and austerity during the crisis years. Another reason is the insistence of German governments – including the current one – to say a dry “NO” to any discussion of war reparations and occupation loans.

The problem with guns

Primarily, however, in recent years, Greeks have been disturbed by Germany’s close relationship with Turkey. Especially since the European Union decided to invest billions in its defense – after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and after Trump’s high schools in Europe – Germany is one of those countries that wants a closer cooperation with Turkey in armaments. And just the fact that Germany has declared that it is ready to negotiate the sale of 40 Eurofighter fighter jets to Turkey – and this was discussed, as everything shows, by the German Foreign Minister in Turkey – Athens does not like it at all.

On the other hand, Germany is also unhappy that the Greeks prefer the French for their huge new armaments program. Once a very good customer of the German armaments industry, Athens has now turned to France, which in return offers defense assistance if and when needed.

The “thorn” of returns

Finally, an important “thorn” in Greek-German relations is the return of persons who have taken asylum in Greece and have continued their journey for a better tomorrow in Germany. The Minister of Immigration, Thanos Pleuris, declares in all tones that he will not accept returns from Germany, while his German counterpart, Alexander Dobrid, has pledged to speed up returns to Greece.

Pleuris and Dobrid could have been the first friends, as they have similar tough views on immigration, but now they are called to serve conflicting interests. And they might be forced to break their hearts.