“We are prepared for anything. We are determined to defend our sovereign rights,” Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis underlined, speaking today to SKAI TV and journalists Dimitris Oikonomou, Akis Pavlopoulos and Dora Koutrokoi.
Mr Varvitsiotis, in particular, emphasized that defending our sovereign rights is a national decision, and sent the message that Greece is shielding its islands against the Turkish threat. The government reacted immediately to Turkey’s illegal agreement with Libya, and will continue to do so, both by strengthening our relations with our friend and ally Egypt as well as with our European partners, he added. Furthermore, he made it clear that Greece, as the Prime Minister stated in Prague, is keeping the dialogue option open, noting that “we are both calm and determined” because any escalation that would come at Greek side’s fault is essentially what Mr. Erdogan is looking for.
The Alternate Minister also pointed out that the Turkish President has created a negative climate against Turkey, both with his attitude at the Prague Summit and with his veto threat on Sweden’s NATO membership, as a result of which some in the alliance have rallied against Turkey. He stated that after receiving a face-to-face response from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in front of 42 European leaders in Prague, Mr. Erdogan walked out of the formal dinner where the other leaders also expressed concerns and worries. Mr. Varvitsiotis also spoke about the possibility of sanctions against Turkish individuals and economic entities that help strengthen the Russian armed forces, calling it a “positive step” that Europe recognizes what Greece has been stating for a long time, namely that Turkey profiteers at the expense of European and other countries by not applying sanctions against Russia.