ANA-MPA
“Τhe European Union must express itself with determination and with a single and strong voice against Turkish provocativeness. A clear message must be sent  to Ankara: either de-escalation or serious sanctions,” Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said in an interview with Open TV on Tuesday.
Commenting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest statements on Monday, Varvitsiotis underlined that Greece has sent a clear message in support of dialogue but not a dialogue conducted under the threat of arms and of Turkish ships sailing back and forth in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“A spirit of dialogue is not cultivated when there are unbelievably provocative and inflammatory statements from the Turkish side. On the contrary, a spirit of conflict is cultivated, which essentially pushes us to diverging orbits,” Varvitsiotis said.
On the imminent MED7 Summit on Thursday , Varvitsiotis underlined that the goal is for a true spirit of commonality to prevail, so that the EU South goes to the European Council with a united front.