FM: Borrell report mainly ‘positive’
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias described the report by European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on Turkey as “positive” as it “rightly views it as a problem for the EU as a whole.”
Speaking before the start of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, he noted however that the report has “shortcomings” in that it does not mention Turkey’s threat of casus belli against Greece, its actions in the town of Varosha in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, nor Ankara’s “direct violations” of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
For the casus belli, however, according to sources, Dendias received a commitment from Borrell that it will be broached in the summit video conference on Thursday.
Apart from these shortcomings, Dendias stressed that the report “clearly includes the possibility of taking action against Turkey if it slips into unacceptable lawless behavior.”
According to diplomatic sources, Athens is satisfied with the approach toward Ankara, which included the outline of a positive agenda, but also the explicit and detailed prospect of restrictive measures.
As for the positive agenda, according to the same sources, it is stated that it could be implemented in a partial and mainly reversible way and that it will depend on whether Turkey shows constructive behavior in the coming months.
Athens was also satisfied with the fact that the report is clear on the issue of the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf – namely that it should be addressed through a dialogue under international law, with an appeal to The Hague if no solution is found.
Satisfaction was also expressed with regard to the migrant-refugee issue and the reference made to the events that have transpired at the Evros land border and the interruption of the returns to Turkey from the Greek islands.
