Greece threatens to block Turkey from EU loans over Aegean, Cyprus tensions
Greece and Cyprus oppose Turkey’s participation in the EU’s SAFE program over long-standing disputes, even as other EU powers including Germany and Italy deepen defense ties with Ankara amid shifting regional alliances.
ANKARA — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has warned that Turkey will not gain access to low-interest EU loans unless Ankara improves relations with Athens.
What happened: Mitsotakis stated in an interview that Greece is the key to improving Turkey's financial access within the European Union.
“Turkey is not going to take advantage of the cheap European loans [through] the SAFE program, if it does not show practical examples of improving its relations with Greece,” Mitsotakis told Greece’s Proto Thema newspaper, according to a transcript released by the Greek premier’s office on Sunday.
Mitsotakis reiterated that Athens will not support Turkey’s participation in the SAFE program unless Ankara withdraws the casus belli. In 1995, Turkish Parliament had passed a resolution declaring Greece’s unilateral extension of its territorial waters beyond six nautical miles a “casus belli,” or act of war.
