Eduardo González
The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, discussed yesterday in Madrid with his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, “the unprecedented increase of Turkish incursions into Greek territory”, just a few months after Athens expressed its discomfort over the military cooperation agreements between Spain and Turkey.
During the meeting, held at the Viana Palace, the two ministers agreed to sign two memorandums of understanding on political consultations to “structure our dialogue on issues that, as Mediterranean countries, Europeans and NATO allies, we have in common”, and on cooperation between the respective Diplomatic Schools, as Albares explained at the joint press conference. The Minister also announced that, “at the end of the month, an economic and business forum will take place in Athens which will give continuity, at the business and civil society level, to this excellent relationship”.
The two ministers also discussed topical issues, such as the war in Ukraine, the future NATO Summit in Madrid -with respect to which they agreed on the need to defend the southern flank-, the next Summit of the Southern Countries of the European Union (MED-9), which will take place in Spain in September and which will allow progress to be made on “the good results obtained at the one held precisely in Greece in September last year”, said Albares, and the future Spanish Presidency of the EU.
For his part, Dendias stressed that bilateral cooperation “has grown significantly in recent years”. “We have many things in common, we are partners in the EU, allies within NATO, we are Mediterranean countries and we share the same values,” he said. Besides, “Spain is one of Greece’s most important trading partners and is one of the main investing countries,” he added.
During the bilateral meeting, he explained, Nikos Dendias expressed to José Manuel Albares his concern about the “unprecedented increase of Turkish incursions into Greek territory in recent times, which is not only contrary to the fundamental principles of international law but undermines NATO principles just when they are most needed”. Both Turkey and Greece belong to the Atlantic Alliance.
Last December, the Greek government expressed its displeasure with the military cooperation agreements announced during the last Spanish-Turkish summit. Greece’s complaints, which resulted in a summons to the Spanish ambassador in Athens, forced Albares to travel to the Greek capital to meet with Dendias, who reminded him during that meeting that, “since 2008, EU Member States are committed not to export military material that can be used against a Member State” and, therefore, expressed Greece’s “concern” about “Spain’s possible intention to strengthen its military cooperation with Turkey”.
