The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Joachim Gauck, arrived Wednesday morning in Greece, as part of an official state visit to the country until Friday, at the invitation of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias.
Joachim Gauck is set to express Germany’s trust in and support for the Greek reforms program undertaken by the government, while also emphasizing the close relationship between the two countries.
The German President’s three-day visit will include a European-focused speech on Thursday at the Acropolis Museum in Athens. On Friday, the German President will fly with Papoulias to the Greek President’s hometown of Ioannina and pay tribute to a village where, in 1943, German troops massacred around 90 civilians, followed by a meeting with the town’s Jewish community.
In an interview with Greek “Kathimerini” newspaper, which was published ahead if his arrival on Wednesday, Gauck refused to discuss demands in Greece that Germany should pay reparations for World War II atrocities but he said Germany bears an undeniable “moral burden.” Germany rejected a demand last month by Greek Jews for compensation over a WWII ransom extracted to free Jewish slave laborers, who were subsequently murdered in Nazi death camps.
The last official visit of a German President to Greece was by Johannes Rau in 2000. The visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in October 2012 was accompanied by massive protests, which, however, are not expected to take place this time.
During the official visit by the German President, the Greek Police on Thursday prohibited all demonstrations and gatherings in Athens for reasons of public security.
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