Solidarity is the only way to deal with the energy crisis, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with the Greek newspaper Ta Nea before his visit to Athens.

Europe as a whole suffers from high natural gas prices, and I am convinced that we can overcome the crisis only with solidarity, the newspaper quoted Scholz as saying.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Scholz visited the Acropolis in Athens on Thursday.

Relations between Greece and Germany have improved since the Greek debt crisis erupted in late 2009, forcing Athens to sign up to three international financial aid programs on tough and unpopular austerity terms, many of them offered by Germany. Greece withdrew from the last financial bailout program in 2018. It had hoped for a strong economic recovery before the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis that shook Europe.

Some 15 EU states, including Greece, want an EU-wide price cap, citing the inflationary pressure that the recent gas price hike has put on their economies. Germany leads a small group of states opposing the price cap.

Scholz is expected to discuss the issue with Mitsotakis on Thursday, as well as escalating tensions between NATO allies Greece and Turkey.

Asked whether Greece could count on German support on the issue, Scholz said that it is unacceptable for a NATO ally to question the sovereignty of another.

He told the newspaper that good neighborly relations are important not only for the two countries, but for Europe as a whole, and that Germany believes that open issues should be resolved through dialogue based on international law.