Athens has lodged a strongly worded demarche with the Turkish ambassador to Greece after two Turkish F-16 fighter jets violated Greek airspace, approaching just 2.5 nautical miles from the northeastern port city of Alexandroupoli.
DIPLOMACY
The Greek-American community represents an “unshakable bond” that will always bind the two countries together, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a Joint Session of Congress on his recent visit to Washington.
Other countries should take note of Rwanda’s in dealing with genocide and admit the dark chapters and atrocities of their past, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said, after meeting with his Rwandan counterpart, Vincent Biruta, in Athens on Friday.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he will speak to Finland on Saturday, while maintaining his opposition to Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership bids a week after he first voiced objections to the move.
Turkey’s opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO under the pretext they harbor terrorists is seen in Athens as a cynical attempt to blackmail the US into agreeing to the lifting of all sanctions against the Turkish defense industry.
If Western leaders were surprised to see Turkey throw a diplomatic wrench into plans to admit Finland and Sweden into NATO, they should not have been.
The actions of the big powers have a fundamental impact on the shape of the international system.
A lot is said every so often about the role and influence of the Greek diaspora, and given that the United States is the most powerful nation in the world right now, it’s no surprise that in that context it is the Greek-American community that is getting much of the attention.
President Joe Biden on Thursday hailed the “momentous” applications of once-neutral Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the three countries worked to address continued opposition from Turkey for the two to join the alliance.
In a phone call on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias reassured his Swedish counterpart of Greece’s full support for her country’s and Finland’s NATO membership aspirations.
The almost three-day visit to the US by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which was accompanied not only by the warm meeting in the White House with US President Joe Biden, but also by the historic speech in the US Congress, was welcomed in Athens for the positives he took away.
Turkey’s leadership expressed annoyance at Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ speech on Tuesday to the Joint Session of US Congress, with Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay slamming it as “theater” and “a show.”
A resolution was submitted to the US Senate earlier this week seeking to reaffirm “the historic and present role of Greece in the defense of democracy” and the “continued partnership with Greece to bolster energy cooperation.”
Greece and the US will announce an initiative on the seas in June, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Wednesday.
When Finland and Sweden signaled they were thinking of making the historic decision joining NATO, the alliance expected a tough response from Moscow, not from one of its own.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has expressed confidence that the United States views Greece as a reliable partner, while criticizing “erratic” Turkey for pursuing revisionist policies in violation of international law.
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