Mitsotakis: Greece from black sheep to one of the most stable economies in the Eurozone

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the crisis in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine, EU enlargement, migration, energy and protecting the climate had dominated talks during his meeting on Tuesday with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Chancellery, expressing satisfaction with the progress made on a series of issues.

Addressing a joint press conference held after the meeting, Scholz reiterated Berlin’s position that “Israel has a right and a duty to defend itself, always in the framework of international law,” and expressed his support for “humanitarian pauses” to allow humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip. He also reminded reporters of the atrocities committed by Hamas and asked for the immediate and unconditional release of the Israeli hostages, noting that he is in favour of a two-state solution.

Referring to Ukraine, Scholz underlined that they agreed with Mitsotakis on continuing to support the country’s defence noting that Germany supports the enlargement of the European Union, provided that the countries involved complete the necessary reforms.

On migration, the German Chancellor asked for the speedy completion of a revision of European asylum laws, referring to a need for bilateral and European solutions to tackle secondary migration to Germany.

“Hamas is a terror organisation. We agree on this [with the Greek prime minister],” stated Chancellor Scholz after the completion of his meeting with the Greek premier on Tuesday and ahead of his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has expressed a different opinion.

“Hamas took power by force. Under Hamas, old people, children and women suffer (…) Its actions amount to raw brutality … It is clearly a terror organisation and in Germany we are dealing with it using all available tools. We have banned its action,” the Chancellor added.

He also noted that Israel has a right to self defence and is a democratic country which respects the human rights and acts accordingly. “The accusations against Israel (from Tayyip Erdogan) are irrational,” he concluded.