Tsipras and Merkel seek common ground in Berlin

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said his country's future in the euro zone hinges on striking a balance between Athens meeting its reform obligations and its EU partners respecting the will of voters who elected him last January.

On his inaugural visit to Berlin, Mr Tsipras agreed with German chancellor Angela Merkel on the need to defuse bilateral tensions to counter a growth in negative stereotypes between their countries. Despite their efforts to strike a conciliatory tone, Dr Merkel reminded her visitor that the key to unlocking more than €7 billion in frozen EU/IMF funding lay in Athens delivering on its month-old promise to provide a list of reforms acceptable to its creditors.

“We respect the treaties and our obligations which arise from them, but we place the same priority on social cohesion,” said Mr Tsipras, leader of the hard-left Syriza party. “If we can remain true to the treaties while respecting democratic will of a sovereign people as transferred to government, we can be more optimistic that Greece will emerge quicker from this humanitarian crisis.”

‘Impossible situation’

Ahead of their meeting, Mr Tsipras wrote to the German leader and, according to the

Financial Time

s, warned of an “impossible situation” looming as Athens juggles multibillion-euro loan repayments with empty public coffers.

A German government spokesman confirmed yesterday the existence of a letter, but declined to comment on its contents.

The German leader, meanwhile, was at pains to avoid technical talks or points of disagreement at yesterday’s press conference. Berlin was “just one of 19 Eurogroup members”, she said, and a bilateral visit was “not an occasion to promise anything in particular, least of all liquidity”.

Both leaders skirted around present-day disagreements to avoid falling out in public, while Mr Tsipras nudged slightly closer to another standoff between the two countries over the “historical shadow” of the Nazi era.

It was important to look forward and not back, he said, adding that Germany should “forget” suggestions from his ministers about seizing German-owned property in Athens in settlement of what some in Greece view as outstanding debts from the Nazi-era occupation. This was a long-standing bilateral issue to be viewed separately from the current euro-zone crisis discussions, said the Greek leader, “and is not a material demand . . . but something that has an ethical and moral dimension for us”.

Reparations demands

For her part, the German leader repeated that Berlin viewed all reparations demands as concluded, politically and legally, but said that Germany would work to keep alive the memory of “Nazi-era horror” in Greece through an educational fund.

“We will remain in talks, but have made no decisions” Ms Merkel said. “Germany takes this very seriously.”

Before they headed for dinner, a smiling Mr Tsipras concluded the press conference by defending the German leader from countless negative portrayals in the Greek and German media.

“My experience from our talks is that Mrs Merkel listens and wants a constructive exchange of views,” he said. “Perhaps you have a different impression from outside about our relationship, but that, too, is a stereotype.”