Brussels/Athens, 26/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - Coinciding with the visit of the Spanish defence minister Federico Trillo to Athens on Monday, Greece has confirmed its reservations about the compromise drawn up with Turkey on NATO - EU co-operation under the Common Foreign and Defence Policy.
At the end of 2001, the "Istanbul" compromise was signed with Ankara under the aegis of the United Kingdom and the United States to pave the way for an EU/NATO agreement that had been blocked for a year by Turkey's demand for guarantees that the EU's Rapid Reaction Force will not intervene in areas disputed by Ankara and Athens, namely Cyprus and areas of the Aegean. This concern is reflected in the third paragraph of the Istanbul document, setting out that meetings of 15+6 must take place before meetings where CFDP decisions on issues "affecting strategic interests" of a non-EU Ally might be taken. The document guarantees that European members of NATO that are not members of the EU will be associated with the EU's decision-making process but at the Laeken Summit Greece rejected both the form and the ideas expressed in the document. In terms of the form, Greece says it cannot accept an agreement that was negotiated outside the EU's decision-making procedures.
On the substance of the matter, "Greece does not accept the fact that the EU should find itself under the jurisdiction of NATO for operations that do not depend on Alliance installations", Greek Defence Minister Yannos Papantoniou said on Monday. Greece refuses that the "problem of bilateral relations between Greece and Turkey with regard to the Aegean Sea should be transferred to the heart of European defence", he added. In an interview with the German daily, Handelsblatt, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou specified that "Turkey, as a member of NATO, has the right to be consulted on questions relating to European military might and its interests should be taken into account, but decisions can only be taken by EU members, and no-one else".
Spanish Minister Federico Trillo welcomed the outcome of his visit to Athens, "the clarity, the sincerity and the quality" of the presentation by Yannos Panatoniou, and stressed the "exceptional provisions taken by Greece to find a solution among the Fifteen". Greece is currently preparing a counter-proposal that "should provide all the Member States with a guarantee of national sovereignty and should remove the ambiguity of the term "strategic interest" used in the Istanbul document", said a Greek diplomatic source. "We hope to be able to gain agreement within the EU before May (Ed.: date of the next NATO Council), but it is still not known whether Turkey will agree", said the same source. Mr Trillo was to be in Ankara after his trip to Athens. Furthermore, the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Simitis, will himself have talks on this subject with his counterparts.
On the NATO side, an agreement is not expected before significant progress has been made on the question of the Aegean Sea, which has been the subject of exploratory meetings between Greece and Turkey. Contacts are described by Mr Papandreou as an "historic opportunity".