Dora Bakoyannis expressed her concern about the deteriorating climate in Greek-Turkish relations, as well as the broader geopolitical upheavals in the region, Dora Bakoyannis said.
The Chair of the Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs and former Foreign Minister, discussed with Athanasios Ellis, Director of the English edition of Kathimerini, in the context of the annual conference “National Action Plan under conditions of global uncertainty”, organised by the Ideas Circle in cooperation with the Delphi Economic Forum.
On the latest developments around the “Blue Homeland“, he said: “We haven’t seen the bill yet, I am waiting to see what they actually say. In any case, arguably it is a crack in trust, perhaps that is the most important thing, and an escalation in tension.”
He said Turkey Turkey “has always had the insecurity of being surrounded” and believes that Greece’s alliances create a sense of insecurity in Ankara. “Wrongly,” he added, noting that Greece “has no intention of making any aggressive moves.” However, she assessed that both maritime spatial planning and the internal situation in Turkey contributed to the increase in tension.
Ms. Bakoyannis argued that Greece has strong alliances and is not worried about relations with the US, citing Greece’s “trump cards” as including its Souda base, Alexandroupolis and its energy role. He also stressed that “realpolitik requires in foreign policy, flexibility, many alliances, knowing where you are going and what you are looking for and avoiding populism and national populism“.
Referring to developments in the Middle East, she noted that “we don’t know if there is a chance that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened next month“, and called “completely impossible” the possibility of NATO sending ships to the region, as Mark Rutte had indicated. He assessed that these developments significantly alter the balance and create a new need for European initiatives and possible dialogue with Russia.
About the deployment of German Patriot missiles to Turkey, he argued that this was a “logical move“, noting that Turkey is an ally country that has received threats from Iran. The former foreign minister advocated in favour of national consensus especially on Greek-Turkish issues, noting that the parties that have governed the country largely share a common strategic understanding on foreign policy issues.
He also referred to the Prespes Agreement and conversations he had in the past with Nikola Gruevski on the issues of ethnicity and language, saying that there was then a possible modus vivendi around the issues of ethnicity and language with solutions proposed for “citizens of” and “makedonski” formulations.
Finally, commenting on political developments and the creation of two new parties, he stressed that “multi-fragmentation in politics is a difficult phenomenon to manage” and assessed that this is a development that “should concern us very much.”
</html
