Mitsotakis: EU should impose meaningful sanctions on Turkey if it doesn’t pull out its maritime assets

Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, reported in an opinion article published on Thursday that the European Union should impose meaningful sanctions on Turkey if Ankara doesn’t pull out its maritime assets from disputed areas in the eastern Mediterranean.

It should be noted that Greece and Turkey are in conflict about sea boundaries in the region, in the latest manifestation of decades of dispute between the two NATO allies, while Turkey has sent a survey ship in an area both countries allege that is their own.

Mitsotakis declared in a piece published in the London Times, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and France’s Le Monde newspapers: We do need dialogue, but not when held at gunpoint. What threatens my country’s security and stability threatens the well-being and safety of all EU member states.

It’s expected this month that the leaders of the EU will determine their response to Turkey. The Greek prime minister wrote that If Turkey doesn’t pull out its assets, meaningful sanctions must be imposed. He also said: If Europe wants to exercise true geopolitical power, it simply cannot afford to appease a belligerent Turkey. He added that Turkey remains had time to avoid sanctions and take a step back.

Mitsotakis reported, referring to the international trial for sovereign disputes: They should stand down, return to the table, and pick up from where they left off when they quit exploratory talks in 2016. And if we cannot agree, then we must seek resolution at the Hague.

Otherwise, the President of France Emmanuel Macron will debate on Thursday the European Union’s stressed relationship with Turkey with Mitsotakis, and the two are participating in the MED7 summit on the French island of Corsica with the heads of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, and Malta.