“Turkey must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all European Union member states,” the draft conclusions said.
By Penelope Galliou
With a dual goal he came to Summit of 27 European leaders Kyriakos Mitsotakis and having already achieved one before even opening his cards to his counterparts at the dinner that followed the first day of the Summit. The reason for Turkish provocation. The Greek Prime Minister, already at the previous extraordinary Summit in May, had stated his intentions for the present Summit, that he would call on our partners to take a stand and take a clear position against the Turkish provocation and delinquency. Call that found immediately eager ears between European leaders and the European institutions, both in the run-up to the European Council with a series of condemnatory statements against Ankara and its conduct, and at the current Summit calling on Ankara to end its sovereignty and territorial integrity Member States.
The position of the Greek Prime Minister before his European counterparts
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has recently referred to the actions and escalation of Turkey’s aggressive rhetoric towards Greece before his counterparts at the European Council. He even referred to the statements made earlier today by the Occupied Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on the demilitarization of the Greek islands and the questioning of their sovereignty.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated that it is up to Turkey to de-escalate the tension while expressing to his counterparts his support for the support and the relevant reference to European Council conclusions.
Earlier, coming to the Summit, Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent new message in Turkey to listen to international persuasions and to de-escalate its provocative rhetoric. The Greek Prime Minister pointed out that Greece is fully satisfied with the draft conclusions that he asks Turkey to stop questioning our national sovereignty and at the same time, noted that he will inform our partners about the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“I will keep the European Council informed of developments in the Eastern Mediterranean”, said Mr. Mitsotakis and added: “Athens is fully covered by the draft conclusions, which clearly asks Turkey to stop questioning the sovereignty and territorial integrity of EU countries and to return to a de-escalation process with full respect for international law. And I hope to “Turkey is listening to these pleas this time because only in this way will it be possible to reduce the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean during these months with the sole fault of the neighboring country.”.
The message from the European leaders to Ankara is also loud. “Turkey must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the Member States of the European Union. Recalling previous conclusions and the declaration of 25 March 2021, the European Council expects Turkey to fully respect international law and to escalate tensions. in the interest of regional stability in the Eastern Mediterranean ” states the draft conclusions of the European Council.
A message of condemnation of Turkey was also sent by European People’s Party stressing that “the EPP condemns all forms of revisionism and aggressive actions and statements … It calls on Turkey to stop the challenges, to escalate the tensions and to respect the good neighborly relations”.
Return the request for a ceiling to natural gas
A key issue and question in this 27-day Summit is energy crisis in Europe and its treatment. After their meeting in Rome, on the eve of the European Council, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Mario Draghi form a common front against this crisis. The Greek Prime Minister, addressing the Summit, also referred to this issue, announcing in advance that he would restore urgency with his Italian counterpart – as he characterized it as a request to launch at the European level the imposition of a ceiling on the wholesale price of natural gas. “This problem is European and because the root cause of this problem lies in the very high gas prices that entail electricity prices, I will reiterate – together with the Italian Prime Minister – the urgent call for bold initiatives at European level. This is an issue that we have been discussing for some time, but unfortunately so far there has not been the necessary mobility. “a coordinated European response that can support national budgets, so as to reduce, as far as possible, the negative effects of accuracy on our households and our businesses,” said Mr. Mitsotakis.
An emergency meeting on the economy, including energy and the food crisis, was held in July. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
According to information, the French President Emanuel Macron and the Irish Prime Minister Michel Martin clearly supported the Italian proposal. On the contrary, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed reservations, arguing that an extraordinary meeting should be held only if there is going to be a specific decision.
Member States, however, on the issue of the gas ceiling, appear divided with Germany and the Netherlands generally rejecting such intervention in the free market. The fact that the issue of energy accuracy is not on the agenda of this Summit also lowers the expectations for decision-making, although it is a problem that concerns the “27”. At the previous summit, however, the countries of the European South, including Greece, had again asked for a ceiling on natural gas. Since then, however, Spain and Portugal have been able to decouple gas prices from electricity for the next 12 months under the so-called “Iberian exemption”.
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