Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias this week clarified, in statements from Parliament on Tuesday, that regardless of the tension-free situation in bilateral relations now witnessed with Turkey, the latter state “maintains its revisionist positions”.
Dendias, the previous foreign minister, said a positive climate in bilateral relations still did not prevent the Turkish side from issuing a Navtex on Monday, essentially disputing Greece’s maritime sovereignty in parts of the Aegean Sea and even the full sovereignty of two dozen islands.
“When planning for the next decade we should have no illusions. I am worried, and very worried indeed. When I have 100 million (people) next to me making claims contrary to International Law I am worried, and I feel obliged to recommend ways to my country to preserve its national sovereignty intact, otherwise I’m committing a crime. The recommendations we make are made with absolute respect to the very last euro. I cannot ignore the challenge that looms over the horizon,” he emphasized, during a briefing for members of Parliament’s foreign affairs and national defense committee.
A day later, on Wednesday, and speaking from the northwest city of Ioannina on the occasion of the 111th anniversary of the city’s liberation from Ottoman rule, Dendias also directed a message towards Albania’s leadership, calling for a full respect of the European acquis in Tirana’s course toward EU accession.
“Greece is a country that steadily supports the European perspective of the western Balkans… I also refer to neighboring Albania, which must always comply with the European acquis in its effort to join the European family”.
