Greek PM bolstered by EU support over Turkey-Libya deal

“Greece will do everything it can and has to do to protect its sovereign rights,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a press conference following a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday, which ended with a declaration condemning the recent Ankara-Tripoli maritime border deal, which Greece says is invalid and without legal merit.

“Turkey is isolated,” Mitsotakis said after receiving the overwhelming support of his EU peers for Greece’s opposition to the memorandum of understanding Turkey signed with the Tripoli-based Libyan government last month. He also cited support for Greece’s positions from other countries, including the United States and Israel.

The Greek prime minister added that he also received support from EU leaders vis-a-vis the migration-refugee crisis and Turkish threats to open the floodgates and overwhelm Europe with millions of asylum seekers, but dismissed the possibility that the two issues could be linked.

“The defense of Greece’s sovereign rights will never be put in the balance or calculated against other political aims,” Mitsotakis said.

“I want to send a message of certainty and confidence to all Greek men and women, from Kastellorizo to Corfu and from Gavdos to Evros… that we have restraint and confidence, we have a plan, not just because we have the law on our side but also because we have very powerful allies who will always stand by Greece when it comes to defending its sovereign rights,” the prime minister said.