Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Bolaris met at the Foreign Ministry today with a 10-member delegation from the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) headed by the Archbishop of Northern Germany, Gerhard Ulrich. The German side briefed Mr. Bolaris on their current 9-day visit to Greece and expressed the desire to learn more about conditions in Greece and the situation with regard to the handling of the refugee/migration crisis in our country. They added that the Lutheran Church does not forget the fact that Germany managed to rebuild following WWII thanks to the support shown by other countries. Similarly, they stressed, it does not forget Germany’s responsibility for the Nazi atrocities in Greece. Finally, the Lutheran Archbishop underscored that the apparent rise of the far right has to be confronted through raising public awareness on issues of religious tolerance and mutual respect between cultures.
Mr. Bolaris expressed the view that the 8-year crisis was not just fiscal, but also a crisis of Greece’s productive model, adding that, while much remains to be done in the fight against unemployment, the biggest problems of the economic crisis are in the past. He added that Churches have an important role to play in promoting understanding between peoples and must contribute to our countries’ relations with those of the Middle East and understanding of the Muslim world. It is to this end, he reminded his interlocutors, that the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established the International Conference on Religious and Cultural Pluralism and Peaceful Coexistence in the Middle East, and he also mentioned the Action Plan for promoting Greek-German bilateral relations.
September 10, 2018