The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) condemns Turkey’s decision on Hagia Sophia and calls on the Turkish government to reconsider its decision.
According to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council has authorized him to consider ways to de-escalate the situation with Turkey.
In addition, the Council instructed Josep Borrell to prepare “possible measures that could be taken in relation to the challenges we face”, as stated by the High Representative.
At the Foreign Affairs Council, the Greek side sought to strongly condemn the issue of Hagia Sophia.
A number of countries were on the side of Greece in the Foreign Affairs Council, according to diplomatic sources cited by ANA-MPA.
In particular, “among them are France, Luxembourg, Estonia, Slovakia, Sweden, while Austria has even called for the freezing of accession negotiations.”
In relation to the measures proposed by Greece, “these are sectoral measures. The identification of the sectors will be discussed and in the meantime Greece will continue its contacts with the European External Action Service (EEAS) regarding this matter too,” the same sources said and concluded that “the Greek side sought and achieved a strong condemnation in relation to the issue of Hagia Sophia” against a milder rhetoric that had originally been chosen.
Borrell: Turkey’s unilateral actions in the Eastern Mediterranean must stop
In his statements, EU Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell spoke at length about Turkey’s relationship with the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya. “We will follow a path that will lead to a reduction in tension,” he said.
“It is an important country for the EU with which we must develop relations, but we must meet certain prerequisites,” he said, stressing that the aim is to build trust with Turkey.
