It has been eight years since a German economics minister visited Greece. German-Greek relations were strained. Incumbent Robert Habeck is coming as a Greece fan. The Green politician is in Thessaloniki for two days, a kind of charm offensive.
Habeck, together with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, opens the German partner country participation in the “Thessaloniki International Fair” – one of the most important trade fairs in Greece. They use a tour of the fair to demonstrate the good relations. Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) is also there. They joke and play table football – Habeck and Mitsotakis win 1-0 against Özdemir and the Greek Agriculture Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras.
Beforehand, Mitsotakis and Habeck will meet for a discussion. According to participants, the discussion will focus on the expansion of renewable energies, trade and the effects of climate change – Greece is increasingly affected by heat waves, forest fires, drought and water shortages.
Migration policy
Migration policy is also a topic. In Germany, the traffic light coalition is wrangling with the opposition over a tougher approach to migration. Opposition leader and CDU head Friedrich Merz is calling for migrants who first entered another EU country to be turned away at the German border. This could also have consequences for Greece – according to the UN Refugee Agency, a good 32,500 migrants have entered the country up to the beginning of September this year.
Many refugees travelled on to Germany from Greece, said Habeck. The Greeks do not think that is a bad thing. “Of course I asked them what they would say if we brought them all back. That, in turn, seems to me to have never been discussed between, if I may say so, the Prime Minister and the opposition leader in Germany, who are part of the same party family,” said Habeck, referring to Merz.
Difficult years
The conversation between Habeck and Mitsotakis took place in a very warm and friendly atmosphere, it was said. For years, German-Greek relations were strained by the financial crisis in Greece from 2010 to 2018. The country was on the verge of national bankruptcy and threatened to leave the Eurogroup. Greece was supported by international loans worth billions.
Above all, the then federal government under Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (both CDU) insisted on tough structural reforms and austerity programs, the benefits of which are still controversial among the Greek population today. The last Minister of Economic Affairs in Greece was Sigmar Gabriel (SPD), in 2016.
Greece is growing
Greece has recovered well economically after the financial crisis, said Habeck. The country is able to pay back its debts faster than originally planned. Last year, growth was two percent – but the economy has emerged from a deep valley. The driving force of the economy remains EU subsidies, which mobilize investment, according to an analysis by the foreign trade company Germany Trade & Invest. In addition, growth has not reached many sections of the population who are suffering from high price pressure.
Another topic of Habeck’s two-day visit until Sunday is the development of an international hydrogen infrastructure. Greece could play an important role in pipelines to Central Europe, but many questions remain unanswered.
Greece fan
At the start of his business trip, the 55-year-old looked back almost wistfully. Habeck opened his speech at an event organized by the German-Greek Chamber of Industry and Commerce with a personal comment: He had often been to this beautiful country privately, as a backpacker with his family, and they had slept on beaches, train stations and in cheap hotels. He had not had much money, the wine was cheap – but always wonderful.
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