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A third draft of sanctions against Turkey was put on the Summit table on Thursday night.
According to diplomats familiar with the matter and quoted by Politico, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had previously said in a speech that “it is at least paradoxical that the United States is preparing to impose sanctions on Turkey, a NATO member, and Europe has swamped. in “yes” and in “but” “.
However, according to Politico, a Greek official said that things did not look “promising” and that “there is no unanimity”.
According to an EU diplomat, before the break, Greece, Cyprus, France, Denmark and Austria referred to Turkey, while Cyprus spoke twice.
“There really seems to be a big difference in positions on the issue,” the diplomat noted.
But not all of these countries are taking the same hard line with Turkey, as Vienna, for example, is happy with the current draft, another diplomat said.
According to Politico, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is under increasing pressure at home, opposition parties are asking him to reject Turkey’s draft, and official opposition leader Alexis Tsipras suggests that Mr. Mitsotakis should exercise his right of veto .
“The European Union can only be a strong international actor if it protects its member states and negotiates effectively with a major neighboring country seeking to join it,” Tsipras said in a Facebook post. .
“The Greek government must protect the interests of the Greek people and the sovereign rights of the country with all diplomatic means at its disposal.”
Then Agreement on the Recovery Fund and the Multiannual Financial Framework, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, decided to suspend the debate on the climate to prioritize foreign policy issues.
Earlier, two diplomats told Politco that the new draft conclusions for Turkey did not satisfy Greece and Cyprus.
Therefore, the text is now discussed at the leadership level.
Also read: EU: Agreement on a new extension of sanctions against Russia
According to the same source, the new version of the draft, which was presented this morning and published on the website, contains the “invitation to the European Council” to approve an additional list of sanctions for “unauthorized drilling activities”. Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean “and asked the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, to” report on the current situation “, including the” extension of the scope “of sanctions” to the March 2021 summit at the latest. “
The changes from the draft published yesterday are minimal.
The two diplomats say that, for Greece and Cyprus, the reference to March is too far away as they would like to see a faster and stronger engagement from the EU.
According to a third diplomat, Greece also abandoned the idea of holding an emergency summit in February on the Turkey issue.
However, a senior EU diplomat is skeptical of the idea: “At the moment, I don’t see the need for such a thing.”
The member states agree that something must be done “but the disagreement lies in that something,” the diplomat commented.
According to Politico, at the dinner during which the Eastern Mediterranean issue is discussed, there will be the morning version of the draft.
