CORRESPONDENCE – BERLIN. Hours after the decisive swearing-in of the new German defense minister Boris Pistorius at the Presidential Palace of Germany, Bellevue Palace in Berlin, President of Germany Frank Walter Steinmeier welcomed the President of the Republic there, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. “Dear Katerina,” her German colleague addressed her in his first on-camera greeting, who said the pandemic prevented the two politicians from meeting in person in the German capital earlier. For his part, the Greek President spoke of “understanding on issues related to the great challenges of our time.” “The two countries share a common vision for the future, based on common European values, the rule of law and rejection of any revisionism, no matter where it comes from.”

Ms. Sakellaropoulou said that Greece particularly appreciates Germany’s attitude towards Turkish threats and recalled that our country is firmly in favor of dialogue, which, however, cannot be carried out in the face of tension, revisionism and inflammatory rhetoric. In turn, Mr. Steinmeier expressed his concern over reports in the Turkish media that the Turkish President is ready to visit Germany in connection with the upcoming elections in Turkey at the risk of dividing the Turkish minority in the country. However, he was quick to clarify that he had no official information about Erdogan’s upcoming trip to Germany, since the same reports speak of meetings between the Turkish president and his German counterpart and Chancellor Olaf Soltz at the end of January.

In parallel, moreover, Erdogan with the Russian President, Mr. Steinmeier described his address to the President of the Republic Vladimir Putin – as he experienced as the country’s foreign minister – from pro-European leader to subversive of the international order after 2007 and his menacing speech at the Munich Security Conference, a transformation that culminated in the annexation of Crimea in 2014. It is recalled that Mr. Steinmeier was accused of the pro-Russian policy of Berlin and the appeasement of Putin under Chancellor Angela Merkel, when he was the head of German diplomacy. It is no coincidence that his trip to Kyiv was canceled last April following the intervention of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had earlier declared the German president “undesirable”.

Explaining to the President of Greece in Berlin the position on the issue of supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine, the Social Democrat politician stressed that it was not about the unwillingness of the chancellor, but about agreement with Washington. But the US is showing apathy in its policy due to disagreements between the hawks of the White House and the Pentagon over the range of weapons systems that will be provided to Kyiv and their ability to hit targets in Crimea.

The ardent philhellene himself, as well as his wife Elke Biedebender, the German President appeared during the working lunch that followed the meeting and spoke about many aspects of Greek-German relations, from the issue of reparations to VW’s green investment in Astypalea. He reminded Mrs. Sakellaropoulou that Elefsina is the cultural capital of Europe, justifying the title of an intellectual politician, and did not rule out the possibility of visiting our country again in the near future.