On a visit to Berlin yesterday, Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou stressed that Greece would not agree to a deal in which Turkey has a say in how the EU’s nascent defense force operates. He said that Greece demanded that its problems with Turkey in NATO’s southeastern flank not be transferred to the new EU force and, secondly, that the new force’s autonomy be safeguarded.

German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping expressed understanding for Greece’s position, saying, “Greece’s reservations have to be discussed in a way that there will not be complications in the whole process.” But he added: “At the European level, there can be no solution without Greece’s agreement, and at the NATO level, there can be no decision without Turkey’s agreement to it.”

Scharping applauded the Greek order for170 German Leopard tanks last week as “a significant contribution to maintaining not only the German but the general European industrial base in the armaments sector.”