BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is looking forward to her meetings in Athens with President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, German federal government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday about Merkel’s upcoming visit to Greece.

He repeated that, with respect to Greek-Turkish relations, the German government considers that solutions to problems can only be found through “discussion, dialogue and in a spirit of mutual respect”.

“It is our conviction – and the basis on which the federal government has always acted – that neighbourly relations between Greece and Turkey are important and in the interests of not just those two countries but all of Europe,” Seibert said, adding: “This is why we welcome and support the fact that Greece and Turkey have resumed talks, that they are carrying out bilateral exploratory talks in order to find solutions to difficult open matters between them. Because it is clear that solutions can only be found through discussion, dialogue and in a spirit of mutual respect.”

He stressed that “the chancellor made this clear during her recent talks in Turkey.”

(ANA/ F. Karaviti)