The “Change of Page” in Greece was the central message of today’s visit to the prime minister Kyriakou Mitsotakis to Berlin. During the meeting of the Prime Minister with Chancellor Friedrich Mertz, the EU’s immigration, prospect of defense cooperation with countries which are not members, but also the success of Greek reforms, were also raised.
The Greek government highlights as the main issue at European level for resolving the immigration problem, the rapid implementation of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum and asylum and on the other hand of a coordinated policy of returns, emphasizing the external dimension of migration and the need to boost the protection.
According to government sources, secondary flows are no longer a main issue, and Germany shows an understanding that Greece protects EU external borders, both sea and land. Greece has essentially accelerated the asylum process, which was formerly a major issue than previous German governments.
Referring to the possibility of participating in EU non-European member states in European security and defense policy, the same sources clarified that “in order to be able, at the EU level, to have defense cooperation with third countries, it is not enough for a country to be formal candidates to join the Union. It must meet the conditions for compliance with the common foreign security policy and policy, or have security and defense partership with the EU – there must be rules. Otherwise, we risk creating new addictions or developing partnerships with players who act against EU interests. “
As a central message from the prime minister’s visit to Berlin, government sources reported the page change: “Greece has overcome the financial crisis, welcoming a significant volume of foreign investment, has one of the highest growth rates among the 27 EU Member States and has been in the European EU Member States. It is a way of time for the EU, as Greece, with a government moving in the area of the wider center, brings tangible results for citizens and manages to prevail in electoral clashes, ”he said.