Athens During his first visit to Athens, Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a clear position in the dispute between Turkey and Greece over sovereign rights in the Aegean. It is “unacceptable when one NATO partner questions the sovereignty of another,” Scholz told the Greek newspaper Ta Nea, referring to Turkey’s territorial claims.
This also applies “to more or less encrypted military threats”. The Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly claimed Greek Aegean islands in recent weeks. Greece “occupies” islands like Rhodes, Kos and Lesbos, Erdogan said, and threatened: “We could suddenly come one night.”
In a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Scholz said the Mediterranean is “an area full of potential, especially economically, and it should be in the interests of all neighbors to exploit these opportunities for the benefit of their peoples”. Good relations between Greece and Turkey are “important for the whole of Europe and for the transatlantic alliance,” emphasized Scholz.
Mitsotakis said it was unfortunate that Turkey’s President Erdogan had “hit a dead end and poisoned his people with lies about Greece”. The Greek Prime Minister appealed to Turkey “to take the path of detente and peaceful coexistence”. Mitsotakis assured that he was always ready “to reach out the hand of friendship” to Turkey.
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The agenda of the hour-long conversation, for which Scholz and Mitsotakis met in the Villa Maximos, the official residence of the Greek Prime Minister, was extensive: in addition to the tensions with Turkey, bilateral economic relations, the energy crisis, developments in Ukraine and common issues were discussed armaments projects.
As part of a ring exchange, Greece is currently receiving 40 Marder-type armored personnel carriers from Germany and is giving the Ukraine the same number of Soviet-type BMP-1 tanks from its own stocks. The first six martens have already arrived in Greece.
Mitsotakis confirmed on Thursday that the German armored personnel carriers would be stationed on the land border with Turkey. “Our armed forces expect that’s where they will be most useful,” Mitsotakis said. Scholz said Greece was free to station the tanks wherever it wanted. “We’re not asking about that,” said the Chancellor.
In the 2010s, the debt crisis and the austerity measures pushed by Berlin in particular put a strain on German-Greek relations. Mitsotakis emphasized that the atmosphere is “much better” today than it was when Chancellor Angela Merkel made her farewell visit exactly a year ago.
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Scholz is coming to a “new Greece that is developing dynamically”. In terms of economic growth, Greece is in the top group of EU countries this year with an increase of probably six percent. In the coming year, his country will generate a primary surplus in the budget and further reduce the national debt ratio, the prime minister announced.
Even before the meeting with Scholz, Mitsotakis had expressed the wish that Greece and Germany should “put the difficulties in their relations behind”. After the conversation with the chancellor, Mitsotakis said in a good mood that he was “much more optimistic”.
But the tensions with Turkey are affecting German-Greek relations. In view of the threats from Ankara, criticism of German arms deliveries to Turkey is growing in Greece.
A shipyard near Istanbul is currently building six German Type 214 submarines using components from Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias warns that the German submarines would “shift the balance of power in the eastern Mediterranean in favor of Turkey”.
Greece is worried about German arms deliveries to Turkey
In Athens there is concern that Turkey will use the warships to assert its territorial claims in the Aegean. When they were in opposition, the Greens called for the submarine business to be stopped. But since they have been co-governing in Berlin, there is no longer any talk of it. It was not initially known whether Mitsotakis brought up the submarines at his meeting with Scholz.
However, the issue of arms deliveries could become even more explosive in the near future. Because Turkey is now sounding out the order for Eurofighter combat aircraft in Great Britain. Germany, Great Britain, Spain and Italy are involved in the Eurofighter program. The federal government would therefore have to agree to exporting the machines to Turkey.
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