Greek PM to travel to Berlin, and then to Moscow

Source: Tanjug

ATHENS -- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will visit Berlin next Monday, and will travel to Moscow in April, a month earlier than planned.

(Beta/AP, file)

A spokesman for the German government stated that Tsipras was invited by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
German media, citing diplomatic circles in Athens, reported that Tsipras aims to "calm the relations between Berlin and Athens" and that his associates are saying ahead of the visit that he "wants to take on the solving of the financial crisis."

Tsipras will go to Berlin amid a serious political debate and disagreements on the subject of the debt crisis and the demands from Athens for Germany to pay WW2 reparations in full for the killing and destruction caused by the fascist German troops.

The first differences on this topic are discernible within the ruling German coalition that has so far always refused the Greek demands for reparations. The Social-Democrats thus think that these should be "discussed," while the opposition Left and Greens are also voicing their support for the Greek demands.

German government sources stressed ahead of the visit that Greece's debt policy is not a bilateral issue and that Germany wants friendly relations with that country.

After Germany, Tsipras will travel to Russia on April 8, a full a month earlier than was originally planned, it was announced in Athens.

"The prime minister will visit the Kremlin at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin," a source from the Greek government has said, according to AFP.

Tsipras was scheduled to visit Moscow on May 9, for Victory Day. The Greek PM's office did not wish to give additional explanations as to why the visit was moved a month ahead.

The Greek newspaper Ta Nea, however, writes that Tsipras' trip to Russia was moved "because of the money shortage faced by Athens due to the delayed payment of new tranches of the loan within the 240 billion package of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund."

"Athens has worked on moving the meeting with Putin because of the difficult economic conditions in Greece caused by Europe," reports the newspaper.