Today’s meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis and his German counterpart, Johann Vandefull, is expected to be accompanied by the announcement of the evolution of the two countries’ action plan.

This is the document signed in December 2016 by the then Foreign Ministers Nikos Kotzias and Frank-Walter Steinmeier respectively, through which an attempt was made to “revitalise” bilateral relations by systematising contacts on issues of mutual interest (political consultations, immigration, economic and technological cooperation, energy etc.).

The new text provides for the development of the action plan into a mechanism that will meet regularly at the level of foreign ministers. According to highly informed sources, the text will be adopted during the eighth round of intergovernmental consultations to be held at the end of 2026 in Athens, at the level of deputy foreign ministers.

Although far from negligible, the positive deliverable cannot reverse the balance of Greek-German relations that is tipping towards the scales. Athens’ long-standing demand to Berlin for war reparations and compensation for the destruction and crimes of Nazi Germany during World War II is one of them. But there are more contemporary “elephants in the room” prominently Turkey.

“We all know where we stand: we are not neutral. We are in the European Union.We belong together,” Vandeful stressed on Greek-Turkish issues, pointing to Mr Gerapetritis at their press conference last March after their meeting in Berlin. And after reiterating that Germany is not a neutral actor, he expressed his country’s intention to contribute “to a further reduction of tension.”

What Berlin’s stance is towards Angara on both Greek-Turkish and European issues that affect it is something Athens knows first-hand.

German backs to Ankara

In his meeting with his counterpart and in this one with the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German parliament, Armin Lassett, Mr. Gerapetritis raised the Greek-Turkish relations in detail and especially the possibility of Ankara’s participation in the European SAFE regulation; the Greek Foreign Minister explained that a precondition for Ankara’s participation is the removal of the threat of war (casus belli) against Greece.

Although it is not known what German officials replied to Mr. Gerapetritis, it is clear that Berlin has been the biggest supporter of Ankara’s participation in the European defence project, as reflected in the COREPER (Committee of Permanent Representatives) level negotiations on SAFE.

According to sources with intimate knowledge of what went on behind closed doors in Brussels, Germany’s primary concern was to avoid any reference that would target Turkey.Greece succeeded in ensuring that the possible signing of a bilateral EU-Turkey agreement on the latter’s participation in SAFE would require unanimity and not a qualified majority as Berlin and other capitals had demanded.

More generally, Germany is seeking to abolish unanimity on most foreign policy and security issues and possibly future EU enlargement, positions to which Greece opposes in principle for a number of reasons.

Furthermore, the negotiations recorded – with Berlin playing a leading role – the willingness of the vast majority of partners to agree to either an explicit or implicit exclusion of Turkey from the text. Similarly, references to “like-minded states” were not accepted as a condition for a third country’s agreement with the EU.

Note that Turkey’s defence cooperation with Italy, Spain, Germany and other countries at the national level excludes SAFE,which is only one of the Commission’s initiatives in the broader ReArm Europe project.

Migration

In any case, Migration is a major bilateral issue, as Germany – since the 2015 crisis – has received several secondary flows of migrants from our country. Gerapetritis and Vandefoule discussed this in Berlin, with the German foreign minister showing interest in increasing migration flows from Libya to Crete.

The issue is expected to be on the table again today for two reasons. In view of the full implementation of the new EU Pact on Immigration and Asylum (12/6/2026) and because of the common understanding reached between the two countries last December, under which Germany agreed not to activate requests for the return of migrants to Greece at least until next June.

Western Balkans

The previous meeting had also focused on Greece’s planned initiative as EU presidency in the second half of 2027 to promote some Western Balkan countries towards the Union. According to senior diplomatic sources, Mr. Vandefoule supported the Greek initiative in principle.

However, he reiterated Berlin’s commitment to the principle of equal performance.In fact, he estimated that at that time only Montenegro would be closer to accession, noting that the basic principles of conditionality should be respected by all candidate members.

After the Foreign Ministry, Vandeful will be received by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximou Mansion.