Athens responds harshly to Erdogan’s new threats and turns its attention to Libya Conference

By Dimitris Gatsios

At the moment when Turkey ει pulls the rope of challenges, externalizing its obvious embarrassment after our country’s defense agreements with France and the United States of America, Athens responds harshly to the new rhetorical outbursts of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who threatens , again, by opening the borders.

“Greece is a European state of law. It protects its borders, which are also the borders of the European Union, and at the same time saves human lives at sea. And when threatened by countries that use desperate people to achieve geopolitical goals, it will always respond decisively. “He did in Evros in March 2020, with the support of Europe,” the government spokesman said late yesterday afternoon. “Recent developments on the Belarusian-European Union border in Poland and the Baltic states underscore once again that Europe will not tolerate the instrumentalization of refugees. And this is a message that everyone must take seriously,” he said. Giannis Oikonomou.

“The threats of the Turkish President concern not only Greece, but the European Union as a whole. It has been proven many times so far that people are lost in the Aegean, because the Turkish authorities are inactive monitoring the boats and rotten boats of traffickers starting from “Recently, the Greek Coast Guard rescued 382 migrants aboard a ship, which had sailed off the Turkish coast, under the Turkish flag and was in danger off Crete,” government officials said. “Turkey’s responsibilities are enormous, as are its obligations in relation to the agreement it has signed with Brussels,” they said, adding that the European Council Conclusions of 22 October had an explicit reference to the Turkey to abide by the 2016 agreement. As well as an explicit report on non-acceptance of the instrumentalization of immigration for other purposes, something that obviously concerns Turkey, but also concerns the case of Belarus.

The looks in Paris

Recently concluding a new major round of diplomatic counterattacks, culminating in the prime minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Athens is now turning its attention to the International Conference on Libya in Paris. Kyriakos Mitsotakis is already in the French capital, at a time when government officials are commenting that his invitation to the Conference is a recognition of our country as a force for regional peace and security, but also for its role in stabilizing Libya, as its closest neighbor. , together with Italy and Malta. This is, after all, the first invitation to Greece to participate at such a high level in an international meeting on Libya, while the invitation was addressed by Emanuel Macron to Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the Prime Minister’s visit to Paris at the end of September for the signing of the Greek-French agreement. Strategic Partnership. As government officials point out, the position of Athens, as it has been reflected by Mr. Mitsotakis in all the international contacts he makes, is based on three key points:

– The observance of the schedule of the elections of December 24.
-The full implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 23 October 2020.
Withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya as soon as possible.

“This position describes the conditions under which the neighboring country will achieve stabilization and the path to normalcy, without interference from third parties,” officials said. “We have a vital interest and interest in stabilizing this country at all levels. We have opened embassies and consulates in Tripoli and Benghazi. We want Libya to be able to face its future on its own without interference from third parties, without the presence of foreign troops, without Of course, without the neighboring country concluding agreements that are clearly illegal with other countries, only in exchange for the military presence of other countries in Libya, I am referring specifically to the Turkish-Libyan “It is blatantly illegal, it violates the Law of the Sea and it has no substantial legal value”, stressed Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his joint statements with Mark Route. At the same time, officials note that the prime minister, during his visit to Tripoli last April, had made it clear to his interlocutors that the creation of illegal agreements, such as the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, would have consequences for the country’s relations with the European Union.

The International Conference on Libya is a French initiative, co-organized with Germany, Italy, Libya (invited by the President of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi and the Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dibeba, and it seems that both will participate) and the Secretariat-General of the United Nations. The aim of the Conference is to reach an agreement between the participants regarding the timetable for holding elections and the withdrawal of foreign troops. The text of the Declaration, at the level of diplomatic advisers, closed yesterday at noon, while if a country has an objection, it should issue a reservation.