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Germany was quite popular in Greece before the Greek government-debt crisis; 78.5% of Greeks had a positive opinion of Germany in 2005. By 2010, 29% shared that opinion.[1]
Today, Germany’s image in Greece has rebounded and significantly improved. In 2012, 49% of Greeks had a very unfavorable opinion of Germany, but by 2021 this number decreased to 29%. German chancellor Angela Merkel was viewed in a very negative light by 76% of Greeks in 2012. By 2021, it was 45%.[2]
History
Amalia of Oldenburg wearing the Amalia dressAngela Merkel and Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a meeting of the EPP, 2019
The two nations enjoyed excellent relations from 1950 to 2010, with Germany being the nation with the most tourists visiting Greece during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s[4] and the European country which received the most Greek immigrants, mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. Moreover, Greece supported German reunification during the 1980s and the two countries cooperated in many sectors (cultural, technological, military etc.) under the EU spectrum.
In 1999, the Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos caused a diplomatic crisis when he stated that "Germany is politically a dwarf"[5] and later apologized.
However, relations were severely strained during the European sovereign-debt crisis between the nations.[6] Although many media outlets in both countries tried to damage relations through polemical reporting, there was an initiative to counteract this. The most known is the founding of the German-Greek Youth organisation (Deutsch-griechisches Jugendwerk).
In general, German-Greek relations are considered to be balanced, and at European level the countries work well together. Germany has supported Greece in their dispute with Turkey, but not as much as other countries like France. The German minister Heiko Maas has said : "[...]Germany and the whole European Union stand by Greece in firm solidarity".[7] Germany limited the arm sales to Turkey, but they excluded maritime equipment.[8] Germany was also hesitant when the EU wanted to impose sanctions on Turkey, but have said that sanctions are an option and that the provocation of Turkey is unacceptable.[9] It should be mentioned that Germany has already provided Greece with 4 U-214 submarines that Greece desired not to be sold, also to Turkey.[citation needed]
Diaspora
There is a 300,000 people Greek community living in Germany, most of them came during the 1960s and 1970s.[citation needed]
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