German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier declared pleased over the recently improved relations between Greece and Germany, while welcoming a softer tone in bilateral discussions after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ official visit to Berlin. Steinmeier met with the Greek Premier at his hotel in downtown Berlin earlier today, just hours after Tsipras had an in-depth five-hour-long discussion with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which the two leaders called for an end to the war of words several officials from both countries were involved in recent weeks. While talking to reporters, the German Foreign Minister said “I am pleased that the tone in the German-Greek talks in recent days has clearly changed and clearly improved.” Steinmeier also told reporters that he had a meeting late Sunday with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias in Berlin. As he said, a warmer relation between Athens and Berlin might not be the debt crisis’ solution “but it is undoubtedly key for serious discussions with each other in the coming days,” adding that he told the Greek Premier that the fiscal policy problems must be addressed in the context of a conversation between Greece and Europe. “The impression should not be created in Greece that everything can be resolved in the context of the German-Greek relationship. That is not the case,” he explained. It should be noted that during a joint press conference held in Berlin yesterday afternoon, Tsipras and Merkel urged an end to the stereotypes, such as the one of lazy Greeks and the Germans being responsible for Greece’s crisis, which have threatened to rip the Eurozone apart. “But it would be wrong to simply blame foreigners. There are also internal reasons for Greece’s plight,” the Greek Premier noted, putting an end to weeks of acrimony between the two countries, stigmatized by biter public statements from both sides.
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