Steffen Seibert

Berlin shares Greece's concern about the memorandums signed by Turkey and Libya, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert has said, noting however that those agreements were not the focus of Sunday's summit in Berlin on the Libya crisis. 

Berlin rejected on Friday a report in German newspaper Bild that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel not to include a Greek representative in a mini summit on Sunday that will discuss Libya's peace prospects.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Turkey next week to discuss bilateral relations and international issues, her spokesman said on Jan. 17.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Steffen Seibert said Merkel would visit Istanbul on Jan. 24 for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

By George Gilson

In a resounding response to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to bar Greece from the 19 January Libya peace conference, Libya National Army leader General Khalifa Haftar arrived in Athens for talks with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis just two days before the conference.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis will discuss bilateral relations, and issues relating to economic and European during their official meeting in Berlin next Thursday (August 29), a government spokesman said Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulates Greek conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on his election victory, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said Monday, adding that she is "looking forward to a close and friendly cooperation."

The German government on Wednesday said Turkey's decision to buy Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems raised difficult questions for NATO and that it would welcome Ankara reconsidering the decision.
"The government is following this very carefully," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular government news conference.

Merkel's spokesperson Steffen Seibert said Germany has "zero understanding" for Pristina imposing a 100 percent tax on products from central Serbia.

He also told Bloomberg agency that Germany "would have preferred Serbia to allow Kosovo to join Interpol."

"We hope that both sides quickly return to dialogue," Seibert said.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert reiterated on Wednesday Germany's position that the issue of war reparations to Greece has been settled "legally and politically."

"The reparations issue was legally and politically settled," he said at a news conference in Berlin, adding that "nothing has changed" in that position.

Germany is adding its voice to calls for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to push ahead with an accord with Greece to change the country's name, a move that would put it on a path toward closer relations with NATO and the European Union.