REPORTER: I’d like you to tell us about the results of today’s meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council – what you talked about that concerns Greece.
N. DENDIAS: First of all, what mainly concerns us is the matter of Greek-Turkish relations. The issue was discussed. The Council recognized that the departure of the ‘Oruc Reis’ is a positive sign, but it is an initial sign. Turkey will have to provide many more tangible examples of respect for international law. The matter will be discussed again by the heads of state and government at the meeting of the European Council, so that we can conclude on the direction to take in EU-Turkey relations. We hope that by then Turkey will have provided -I repeat- tangible indications of its respect for international law. Beyond that, we talked about a wide range of issues: Belarus, the need to impose sanctions on the Lukashenko regime, the EU’s relations with China, Europe’s relations with the countries south of the Mediterranean, so that we can direct development funding to tackle problems like unemployment and migration. In general, there was an extensive discussion of the geopolitical challenges the Union is dealing with.
September 21, 2020