Athens firm on NATO decision

The government yesterday stressed that Greece would do everything possible to protect its interests in the wake of a NATO decision to cancel a planned military exercise in the Aegean following objections from Turkey. «Greece knows very well how to defend its national interests and sovereign rights,» alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros said. Questioned about Ankara’s arguments, according to which the island of Aghios Efstratios should be demilitarized, Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos said they were «totally baseless under international law and treaties.» «This move not only attempts to question the sovereign rights of a NATO state but also undermines the cohesion of NATO,» Koumoutsakos said. Greece’s permanent representative to NATO, Yiannis Zeppos, is to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Koumoutsakos said without determining whether Greece would lodge a complaint. But the ministry spokesman did not blame the alliance for the move, saying there had already been plans to postpone the exercise due to bad weather. Asked to comment on the impact of Ankara’s move on Greek-Turkish ties, Koumoutsakos said «they were never straightforward.» Meanwhile, Koumoutsakos described as «very significant» a military cooperation accord signed yesterday between Nicosia and Paris. Ankara had earlier objected to the pact, saying it would threaten stability in the eastern Mediterranean.