“Greece will not demilitarize its islands just because Turkey wants it,” the deputy foreign minister said.

Greece wants to engage in dialogue with Turkey but is not ready to make concessions on its national sovereignty and will not demilitarize its islands just because Turkey wants it, Deputy Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said on SKAI on Friday.

“And of course, the dialogue must be conducted in accordance with the rules, which are nothing less than respect for international law and the law of the sea. We will not conduct dialogue as Turkey wants, putting on the agenda issues that a sovereign state cannot accept under what circumstances.”

Varvitsiotis added that Greece is more prepared than ever, having raised the level of combat readiness of its armed forces, which is causing a reaction from Turkey. Greece, he stressed, will not give up its weapons or international alliances. He noted that Erdogan is especially annoyed by the modernization of the port of Alexandroupolis (which is located near the borders of Turkey. Editor’s note), the strengthening of the American presence there.

Speaking about the visit of German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock to Athens, Mr. Varvitsiotis said that first of all we expect the good level of Greek-German relations to be demonstrated to the outside world, recalling that in this context he himself visited Berlin a few days ago .

He noted the change in Germany’s attitude towards Turkey after the meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as a result of which today Germany shares the position of Greece, which believes that: disputes should be resolved on the basis of international law, there is absolute respect for Greek sovereignty, no one does not discuss any concessions or retreats to Greece regarding her sovereign rights just because Turkey demands it.

He also noted that the Prime Minister’s proposals, reflected in his letter to Ursula von der Leyen, on how solidarity in the energy crisis would work in EU, have been adopted by many EU members, including Germany. Noting that this is yet another success of Greek foreign policy, we have managed to put the question of the European response to the energy crisis at the top of the agenda.

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