Greek PM Mitsotakis to meet German Chancellor at 11

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will have a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today at 11:00 a.m. in Berlin.

At the top of the agenda of the talks between the two leaders will be the economy, immigration, energy and the situation in the Middle East.

Extended talks by the delegations of the two countries and statements to the press will follow.

Government sources note that the Prime Minister’s visit to the German capital is taking place at a time when the Greek economy has passed into another phase after the recovery of the investment grade, at the time, which has recorded the largest debt reduction in the world in 2022. in terms of debt-to-GDP ratio and is now on track to reduce debt below 2012 levels by the end of the year, outperforming developed eurozone economies.

The dinner of the leaders

Last night, Kyriakos Mitsotakis sat at the leaders’ dinner hosted by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in the chancellery, as part of the informal group discussions with EU leaders on the adoption of the European Union’s Strategic Agenda in the first semester of 2024.

The German chancellor and the leaders of Greece, Cyprus, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania and Hungary sat at the dinner of the president of the European Council.

Earlier, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis participated with the head of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, in an event of the “Konrad Adenauer” Foundation entitled: “Greece and Europe: a new chapter with Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Friedrich Merz”.

There, he once again stood in favor of the Commission’s proposal for “ownership” of the fiscal path of each member state, but also for fiscal flexibility in exchange for the consistent implementation of reforms in view of the reform of the European Stability Pact.

“We must avoid the mistakes of the past, where we had too much austerity and draconian fiscal measures resulting in a new cycle of recession and the inability to achieve our fiscal goals,” said Mr. Mitsotakis.

Regarding immigration, he emphasized that more aid and a more effective return policy is needed, while regarding the Greek-Turkish issue, he said that there is a positive agenda and added that he obviously disagrees with Erdogan’s opinion on Hamas, but that is no reason not to welcome him to Greece.