“The Borrell report and the results of the European Council Meeting are tough and very negative for Turkey”, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis stressed in his interview on SKAI TV’s morning show ‘Simera’, with journalists Dimitris Economou and Maria Anastasopoulou. The threat of sanctions, he added, is pending precisely “so that Turkey does not feel it can return to its unilateral provocative actions”.
More specifically, Mr. Varvitsiotis underscored the exceptionally important message Europe sent to Turkey through the March meeting of the European Council: “That first we will talk among ourselves about what we want and after that we will talk with Turkey, despite its charm offensive on Europe”.
Regarding the international stance on Turkey, “there is now a shared outlook among all international players that Turkey is not close to what we call the European acquis”, the Alternate Minister noted. This is also clear from the change in the U.S. stance, Mr. Varvitsiotis added, and President Biden’s concerns about the weakening of democratic institutions in Turkey and the fact that Turkey is involved “in all of the regional conflicts, with interests that are opposed and counter to those served by the European Union”.
