Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has strongly criticised Greece for attempting to block Ankara’a entry into the European Union’s SAFE defence initiative, stating his view it is an example of political offiicials feeding on an “anti-Turkish stance” to protect themselves.
Fidan did not hold back during an interview with Reuters in Brussels as he expressed his frustration with Greece opposing Turkey’s request to join the new multibillion euro EU initiative aimed at boosting joint military investment across the bloc.
“Greek politics feeds on an anti-Turkish stance. Whenever there is a domestic mistake, they immediately bring up Turkey,” Fidan said.
“Regarding the SAFE program, the fact that the Greek prime minister boasts in the Greek parliament that he will prevent Turkey from joining, just to protect himself, is something that must be treated with caution.”
The initiative is intended to support collective investments in weapons systems, ammunition, drones, air defence systems, and shared security infrastructure.
Turkey’s entry into the program has support from other nations, including Germany.
Fidan made mention of Greece’s past departure from NATO’s military wing, saying:
“In 1974, Greece withdrew from NATO’s military wing. It returned in 1980. At that time, Turkey agreed to it, even though it could have chosen not to. Greece could have remained outside NATO until it met our conditions. But Turkey saw the broader strategic picture and agreed. That was the leadership’s decision back then.”
He asked for Greece to demonstrate “the same maturity” now.
“There is a much greater European security threat at stake. Much more is on the line than the hypothetical issues we create for each other. How far we can advance with an approach that ignores this is another question.”
Fidan noted the European Union Council of Ministers is scheduled to meet in Luxembourg on Monday, and confirmed Greece’s Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis had requested a meeting to discuss the matter.
