Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appeared guarded when asked about further progress in talks between Athens and Ankara, part of an ongoing Greek-Turkish dialogue commenced by the two neighboring states mostly over a so-called “positive agenda”.

Mitsotakis’ statements came during a taped television interview aired late Wednesday evening by the Athens-based Alpha channel.

When pressed on the issue, the Greek premier said his government’s strategy and polices remain steadfast, rejecting in turn the most recent criticism lobbed against him and the foreign minister by former prime minister Antonis Samaras.

The latter’s scathing comments in an interview with “To Vima”, including references to “appeasement”, led to his expulsion of ruling New Democracy (ND), the party he once headed up until the summer of 2015.

“Turkey insists on its positions, and we insist on ours. So, at the moment, any margins to discuss in greater depth the sole dispute with Turkey (i.e. delimitation of an Exclusive Economic Zone and the continental shelf), given that Turkey wants to discuss other things that we’re not willing to do, means that no progress has been made in this area. If the fact that we (Greece and Turkey) are talking and that there is a good climate is interpreted by some as appeasement, then the problem is theirs,” Mitsotakis said, in a not-too-thinly veiled reply to Samaras – one of his predecessors as president of center-right New Democracy.

Rafale, F-35, Belh@rra

The interview was shot at a Hellenic Air Force base north of Athens, which hosts the country’s first squadron of French-made Rafale fighter planes.

The Greek leader made particular mention of boosting the east Mediterranean country’s defense capability, stressing that the Rafales are among the most cutting-edge warplanes in the world, while the air force is set to also receive a first batch of 20 US-made F-35 fighter planes up until 2030.

That squadron will be based in western Greece’s Andravida airbase.

In taking a cue from the surrounding environment, in this case a reinforced fighter plane hangar, he also pointed to the addition of four Belh@rra frigates ordered by the Hellenic Navy – the first of which is expected to be delivered in 2025 – and the creation of an anti-aircraft and anti-drone “dome” over Greek skies.

In response to a related question, he said measures are being studied by his government to increase salaries of armed forces members.

“As (state) finances improve, public sector salaries will be increased. But we can make some targeted moves for armed forces personnel,” he said, leaving open the possibility of extraordinary financial support.

Response to questions over ex-PM’s expulsion from ND

Asked again about Samaras’ statements last week in the “To Vima” interview, Mitsotakis said the ex-premier “exceeded the boundaries”. He took particular umbrage with Samaras’ quip of “cuddling up” to describe an impromptu and brief discussion in Budapest earlier this month between Mitsotakis, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and, quite surprisingly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The fact that Erdogan actually sat around a table, even in an informal setting, with the head of state of a country (the Republic of Cyprus) that official Ankara does not recognize as representing the entire island republic, raised eyebrows across the region.

“I cannot allow theories to be circulated that I and the foreign minister are compliant or that we are conducting secret diplomacy,” he said.

“A former prime minister cannot order the prime minister to fire the foreign minister,” he said, while underlining that there’s no possibility of any ND deputies leaving the party in the wake of Samaras’ expulsion. “We have a strong government with a four-year mandate.”