Economic, Refugee crises dominate German FM's visit in Athens

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged for strengthened cooperation among EU partners to deal with the economic and refugee crises during a visit to Athens on Thursday.

"We need a common European policy for the refugees, with common procedures and common protection of the borders. Burdens must be shared more equally," he underlined during his meeting with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

The visit took place as Greek Coast Guard collected the dead bodies of 16 people who were trying to cross over from the Turkish shores in wooden vessels and continued a major operation to locate 33 who were still missing.

Apart from the ongoing refugee crisis, the economic crisis and the bilateral relations were the main topics of Steinmaeier's agenda who also met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias.

During his meeting with Tsipras, Steinmeier highlighted that refugee flows affect all of Europe, adding that he agreed that Turkey's border protection must be increased.

Underlining the need of the European Union's support, Tsipras explained the emergency state that Greece has come up against "shouldering the burden of Europe's humanitarian facade."

Regarding the reform package Greece is committed to its lenders in order to unlock the next tranche of aid, Tsipras told Steinmeier that July's decisions were difficult but that the Greek government would implement the agreement.

"We don't agree with many items in the agreement, however, we want a sincere relationship with our partners," he said.

From his part the German Foreign Minister expressed his belief that Greek authorities should implement the reforms, but also he referred to the need of strengthening bilateral relations, particularly in exports and trade.

"Mutual trust is necessary in politics and diplomacy and should be the foundation that we urgently need," Steienmeier pointed out, after meeting with his Greek counterpart, admitting that the relations between the two countries were shaken in the recent past and should be restored. Endit