Merkel: Germany sees all Europeans as equals

March 24, 2015
Written by E.Tsiliopoulos

Germany sees all partners in Europe as its equals despite having the largest economy and wants good relations with all of them including Greece, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday after talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

“Although there are 80 million people living in Germany and we are the biggest economy in the European Union, this Europe is built on the principle that each country is equally important – no matter how many residents it has,” Merkel said.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that his government would pursue the issue of German reparations for crimes committed by the Nazi German occupiers in World War II and the repayment of the forced loan imposed by the occupiers, which Nazi Germany itself had acknowledged and partly repaid.

However, Tsipras placed the issue on a moral plane ands refused to connect German compensation to Greece’s rrepayment of its loans.

Tsipras also denied that his government would pursue the seizure of German property in Greece as part of its claims, implicitly disavowing his own justice minister, Nikos Paraskevopoulos, who had said Greece woulds be ready to seize the premises of Germany’s Goethe Institut in Athens before backtracking.

Tsipras also said that both countries ought to avoid negative stereotypes of each other, especially those that recalled Germany’s Nazi past.

On her part, Angela Merkel repeated her country’s position that the issue of German war reparations has been resolved.

Highlights of Angela Merkel statements

– There are difficult issues, in which we have completely different thoughts and views.

– The Greek government will tell us how much longer it wants to continue the cooperation with the Task Force.

– There must be a balanced budget – Reforms are need in all sectors

– Economic figures must be clear – Decisions will be taken by the Institutions.

– We have very warm and substantive contacts with the Greek people – We want to cooperate in the best possible way

– We warmly welcome the Greek Prime Minister in his first visit to Berlin.

Highlights of Alexis Tsipras statements

– Issue of wartime reparations and occupation loan is a bilateral issue with a moral value.

– There is no member of the Greek government that expressed intent for the Greek state to take over buildings own by the German state (in Greece). This is not true. The Goethe Institute activity and contribution in Greece is very important.

– War reparations issue a moral issue; we must find a common solution in partnership with the German government – We owe this to both peoples, which paid a high price in terms of blood.

– We ask for the judicial cooperation of German authorities in order to investigate the issues linked with the Siemens case, and for justice to be served.

– Our priority must be to break stereotypes – Greeks are not lazy, Germans are not at fault for all the land’s ills.

– Today’s meeting was productive, as common ground was determined, as were the differences between us.

– We must proceed with necessary structural reforms that previous governments did not take.

– It’s simplistic to say that foreigners are responsible for all the problems we face, that someone else is at fault

– Social inequity has dramatically increased in Greece over the past five years.

– Greece has completed five years of implementing a bailout plan, which brought about an unprecedented fiscal adaptation, however, in our opinion, it was not a success story.

– There is no other path except for dialogue, in order to bridge whatever differences there are between us.

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