Borrell heads to Greek-Turkish border
New migrant surge seen as possible, Ankara implies France backing Greece’s East Med ambitions
Amid fresh concerns of a possible attempt by Turkey to push migrants into Europe via Greece, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, will today visit the Kastanies crossing on the Greek-Turkish border and hold talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens.
Borrell will travel to the northeastern region of Evros with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to meet with authorities guarding the border.
Borrell is also scheduled to hold talks in Athens with Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos that are expected to focus on recent suggestions by Turkey that it would not prevent a second migrant push, as well as growing tensions between Greece and Turkey over Ankara’s drilling plans in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, Dendias met yesterday with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, who tweeted afterward that the two men “affirmed once again our legal understanding that islands are entitled to EEZ (exclusive economic zone) and continental shelf, just as mainland.”
At the same time, Pyatt also noted they had the “opportunity to reiterate our support for a ceasefire in Libya leading to a political resolution and our call for all external parties, including Russia AND Turkey, to stop shipments of arms and jihadists that are deepening the violence.”
With tension brewing between France and Turkey over Libya, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy also complained yesterday that Paris is ignoring Ankara’s legitimate rights in the Eastern Mediterranean and favors maximalist ambitions – in what was seen as a reference to Greece and Cyprus.
Aksoy said that by ignoring Turkey’s rights, France is raising obstacles to peace and stability and fueling tensions.
Aksoy also said French President Emmanuel Macron “must have suffered an eclipse of the mind” following his remarks on Monday that Turkey is playing a “dangerous game” in Libya.
Turkey’s behavior was also broached by US Senator Robert Menendez, who sent a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing “deep concern” about Ankara’s escalating aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean. He also called for sanctions to be brought against Turkey as its behavior in the Eastern Mediterranean threatens US interests.