Steffen Seibert

Chancellor Angela Merkel will host Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu for talks on Jan. 22, her spokesman said, with discussions to centre on the suicide attack in Istanbul that claimed 10 German lives. The Jan. 12 "attack in Istanbul will play a central role" in the talks, said Steffen Seibert, spokesman for Merkel.

The passport-free Schengen zone is "in danger" because of Europe's refugee crisis, Germany warned on Jan. 4 after Nordic countries announced new controls at their borders to stem a migrant influx.

"Freedom of movement is an important principle - one of the biggest achievements [in the European Union] in recent years," Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told reporters.

The Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) recoiled on views expressed by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras regarding the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) involvment in the third Greek bailout program. The dispute began on Monday night during a late-night interview that Tsipras gave to public broadcaster ERT TV.

“The participation of the IMF in the Greek aid program is established in the relevant legal documents” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said responding to a question about whether Berlin believes IMF’s involvement in the third Greek program absolutely necessary.

“Greece has a government and whatever we have to discuss with the country, we discuss it with the government and its associates,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday when he was asked about Die Welt’s publication citing an internal report which characterized Greece as practically ungoverned.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu on Nov. 2 to congratulate him on election victory and urged swift joint action to deal with the migrant crisis, a government spokesman said.

Europe's migrant crisis cannot be solved with the construction of fences or walls at borders, Germany has said after Austria announced plans to erect fences on its border with Slovenia to slow the influx. 

The refugee crisis must not be linked to the implementation of the third bailout program in Greece, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Friday, referring to an article published in the financial magazine “WirtschaftsWoche”.

According to the magazine, Germany would relax emphasis on the strict implementation of the Greek program, if Greece accepted more refugees.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert repeated the need for action against migrant and refugee traffickers in the Aegean and for a “more orderly situation” along the EU’s external borders between Greece and Turkey.

Greece on Oct. 13 dismissed a suggestion it should set up joint patrols in the Aegean Sea with regional rival Turkey, as Europe struggles to control its worst migrant crisis since World War II.