Merkel: I was fully aware of the burden placed on Greeks...we found a common path

"Anyone who knows about culture and civilisation cannot leave out Athens and Greece," outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday in joint statements with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, noting that this will not be her last visit to the country.

"German-Greek relations were quite lively, I would say. The difficulties were a given when it came to the stability of the euro and I was personally fully aware of the excessive burden that this meant and the challenge that this meant for the people in Greece. In the end, we managed to find a common path, to keep in step for Greece to remain a member of the EU," said Merkel.

"Once it was completed, when this phase was essentially over, we had to face another huge challenge, that of migration which started in 2015. We have shown that we can share responsibilities and I think that the EU-Turkey Agreement is an example that shows us that we can work together, and in this case work together with Turkey. I am aware of the large number of challenges that Greece faces when it comes to cooperation with Turkey. We discussed yesterday and today with intensity that United Nations resolutions and international law must apply, and we believe that it is important but difficult to find answers and solutions through dialogue," she added.