Nikos Kotzias: Germany wants to punish Greece

Interview to National Interest magazine

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said Germany had a hegemonic role in Europe and was demanding more austerity measures from Greece in an interview to magazine “National Interest”. In his interview given to the magazine’s publisher J. Heilbrunn, Mr. Kotzias argued Germany’s goal was to drain Greece and not bring growth to the country.

 “The powers structure in Germany is grounded in economic, not in political or democratic power”, Mr. Kotzias said, adding that this meant the Germans had a stronger role in the EU bloc.

 “They [Germany] believes Greece should be punished due the behaviour of its [Greece’s] elite.” The Greek Foreign Minister said that Greece has been harshly punished by the refugee crisis and accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of misjudging the extent of the problem because she was absorbed in domestic economic affairs.

He added that Europe lacked any leadership at the current moment, stressing there had been little democratic discussion about what kind of Europe they wanted for the 21st century.