Greece: Baerbock seeks probe into potential pushbacks

Athens, July 29: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has rebuffed Greek calls for further World War II reparations from Germany but expressed contrition for Greek people's suffering under occupation. She also called for a transparent and consistent investigation into alleged pushbacks at Greek borders which involve the EU's Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex in Athens on Thursday. Later, her focus is to switch to strained bilateral ties with Turkey.

What was on the program for Baerbock in Greece so far?

To start off her visit in Greece, Baerbock commemorated the victims of the German occupation during WWII by visiting a former Nazi prison where thousands of resistance fighters and civilians were imprisoned and tortured between 1941 and 1944.

After this, she placed flowers at the Athens Holocaust Memorial.

Local media reported that Baerbock said that remembering German atrocities during WWII was a matter close to her heart.

"The responsibility for your own history never stops," she said.

Despite this, the foreign minister didn't acknowledge Greek calls for reparations. She said the new coalition government, elected in 2021, didn't see a change to the legal situation as perceived by past administrations, namely that such issues were settled in the immediate aftermath of the war and then again in 1990.

Both Greece and Poland are trying to claim reparations, seeking negotiations about them with the German government.

What did Baerbock have to say about the situation of refugees in Greece?

Baerbock said was crucial that the EU could ensure that human rights were guaranteed universally at their borders. The pushbacks of refugees reported in German media recently would not be compatible with European law, she went on to say.

Der Spiegel reported on Thursday as Baerbock departed that a leaked report accused Frontex of willfully ignoring the Greek border patrol not allowing refugees to cross into their borders. The report goes on to state the Frontex was allegedly involved in these illegal activities, Spiegel reported.

This behavior marked a human rights violation that Frontex knew and did nothing about.

Baerbock called on the Greek authorities to systematically investigate these allegations. While the EU had to protect its borders, European ideals must still be upheld, she said.

"If we look away, our European ideals will drown in the Mediterranean", she warned.

The foreign minister proposed a European sea rescue program in which safeguarded migrants would be moved to other EU countries than the ones they arrived in.

Baerbock had visited a refugee camp close to Athens alongside the Greek Minister of Migration, Panagiotis Mitarachi, before making her strong statements.

Mitarachi denied the accusation of Greece border patrol forces being involved in pushbacks and denying refugees their right to apply for asylum.

He emphasized that Greece had a right to protect its borders and that they adhered to the rules even if there could be wrongdoing by individuals.

According to European law, Greece has an obligation to offer refugees the opportunity to apply for asylum. The European Commission has repeatedly appealed to the authorities to stop violent and illegal pushbacks of refugees at its borders.

Pushbacks mean measures in which migrants are pushed back onto the ocean without being given the opportunity to apply for asylum beforehand.

The number of refugees crossing into Greece especially from Turkey has increased by 30% in the first four months of the year. Often, they have fled countries such as Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq.

Strained relations between Greece and Turkey

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is scheduled to hold talks with Greece and Turkey, whose relationship has been strained recently, on Friday.

She will meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and her Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias first to then fly out to Istanbul for talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu.

The relations between the two have been regressing as Turkey questioned the sovereignty of Greek islands and is demanding the withdrawal of Greek military instalments, while Greece remains alerted over the presence of Turkish landing boats.

Baerbock said it was particularly important to her to visit both of these partners as Russia was trying to "divide the NATO alliance," of which both Greece and Turkey are members.

Source: DW