Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis sent a strongly worded message to Europe and Turkey during a video conference with the Ambassadors of EU Member States held a few hours before the Summit of EU leaders commencing tomorrow in Brussels. Mr Varvitsiotis, who will be accompanying Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the European Council Summit, presented Greece’s positions to the heads of the Member States’ delegations.
As regards Turkey's ongoing illegal activities, the Alternate Minister stressed that the EU must send a clear message to Turkey, remaining true to the decisions made during the European Council's October meeting. This is, in his words, an issue of credibility for the EU, which presented Turkey with an option between the path of cooperation or the path of illegal activities and breaches of European values. “We want the European Union to understand the power and credibility it must possess as an international player. Not honouring our decisions would be a tremendous step backwards for the EU”, he noted.
As regards dialogue with Turkey, Mr Varvitsiotis made it clear that our country has long been confirming its commitment to dialogue — but dialogue presupposes the existence of a good-faith interlocutor that actually desires dialogue. He added that no dialogue can take place under threats or concerning issues that are not subject to bilateral dialogue, such as the steps our country is taking to defend its territorial integrity or protect the Muslim minority, reiterating that the singular object of any dialogue would be the delimitation of maritime zones.
In reference to the draft Conclusions of the European Council in place, he noted that this draft is not satisfactory, as it does not take into account the fact that a large number of Member States have repeatedly voiced their concern over Turkey's illegal activities.
He also broached the issue of imposing a European arms embargo on Turkey, stating that weaponry of European origin being directed against the security and integrity of EU Member States is unthinkable.
Furthermore, he raised the subject of Turkey's violations of the Customs Union, an agreement that is beneficial for Turkey's economy, and stressed that violations must be addressed and that the Customs Union must also function in favour of European exports to Turkey.
Finally, Mr Varvitsiotis underlined the importance of immediately adopting NextGenerationEU and the new Multiannual Financial Framework, which are key to the recovery of the European economy that has suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and stressed that their approval must not be hostage to issues unrelated to the main challenge of ensuring the recovery of Europe’s economies.
December 9, 2020