President of Germany: It pains me to see what we did to the Greeks in the past

German President Joachim Gauck said he feels remorse for what Germany has done in the past to the Greek people and to other countries.

As he said in an interview in Deutschewelle, he will do two things when he comes to Greece, "I will make reference to the devastating German history. I did so in other countries that I visited and I will show that those it pains me to see what the Germans did in the past. I will also say that I find it hard to imagine so many people being laid off from the German public sector as in Greece." In all this he shows understanding, stating that what he does not understand is for someone to blame Chancellor Merkel for this misery.

The German president recalls that many countries that joined the EU did not seize the existing financial resources of the structural and other funds in the best way and refers to the importance of training, pointing out the advantages of the German system of vocational education, which could be a model for other countries too.

In view of his planned visit to Greece on March 5-7 and asked about what he will say to a Greek unemployed young person if he asks him why should he vote for a pro-European party, the German president points out the solidarity from Europe to Greece and answers "I will ask him if he believes that outside of Europe he would have had better opportunities which I do not think would happen."

Gauck sees the early signs of stabilization in Greece and says that "we would do well with our assistance and the Task Force teams to help in the planning of public administration in order to stabilize the tax system and for public administration to meet the European standards."