Greece has rejected the plan proposed at the EU Special European Council meeting as a basis to start discussing EU relations with Turkey, Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on Thursday night in the central newscast of national broadcaster ERT1.
(The summit meeting on October 1 and 2 – originally scheduled for September 24 and 25 – will discuss foreign affairs, in particular relations with Turkey and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. The leaders are also expected to address relations with China, the situation in Belarus and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. The single market, industrial policy and digital transformation are also on the agenda.)
The summit “is a significant meeting for Greek-Turkish relations and beyond, for all foreign relations the EU has,” Petsas told ERT1. “Especially on this agenda issue, which is a revisiting of the discussion about what direction Turkey is heading to – which appears to be away from the West -, the basic document proposed as an initial base of discussion is not acceptable by Greece,” he noted, “because it is not balanced.”
As the spokesman explained, “What is needed is to build a plan of conclusions that will include at least four pillars”. He named them as follows: actual solidarity to Greece and Cyprus before Turkish aggression; the EU calling on Turkey to stop directly every illegal drilling activity in Cyprus’ EEZ, and end all provocative action in the Eastern Mediterranean; and once Turkey observes these, with a commitment to de-escalation, to provide all help possible to Turkey in this framework; and lastly, if Turkey does not show any intention to de-escalate, then to use force.
These four points can provide a basis for a plan of action that will be acceptable by all, Petsas said, referring to the last two pillars as “the carrot and the stick”.
Thursday night’s meeting, he said, should “provide a result that will express the EU’s unity before a partner like Turkey – naturally an important partner – who can contribute several positive elements but must stop being provocative either with actions or with its rhetoric.” The spokesman expressed the certainty that the meeting would be able to provide a decisive result tonight.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.
Source: ANA-MPA
