Greece, through its Foreign Minister, called on the European Union to impose harsh sanctions on Turkey, and demanded that the European Union intervene militarily to curb Turkey.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dundas said today, Wednesday, that Greece wants its European Union partners to prepare "handicapped" economic sanctions to be used against neighboring Turkey if it goes ahead in exploration for offshore gas and oil off the Greek islands.
Relations between the two historic regional rivals and troubled NATO allies have deteriorated rapidly in recent months, with differences including undersea drilling rights, illegal immigration flows and Turkey's decision to convert the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul from a museum to a mosque.
He told his European Union colleagues that if Ankara went ahead with its plans to excavate the Crete, Rhodes and Karpathos Islands, the union should respond with an advance list of harsh penalties.
"The European Union is Turkey's largest trading partner, if it wants, it can create a big problem for the Turkish economy, this is not my desire, but we must be clear," Dundias added.
Greece says it has exclusive rights to the regions targeted by Turkey, which are located on Crete away from the Turkish coast.
Dundias noted that if Greece was attacked by its neighbor, it would protest part of the 2009 Treaty on the European Union, which obliges member states to provide assistance to another European Union country facing armed aggression.
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— la mélancolie, c'est moi 🇪🇺🏴🇬🇷 (@LES_CRUMPETS) July 14, 2020
Looks like potentially the member states are starting to rally around Greece. Good. About time the EU stands up to bullies in the external neighbourhood.
