The president calls on Greece and Turkey to work together more, while the two countries compete for large gas fields in the region.
Emmanuel Macron has called on Wednesday, Greece and Turkey to work together more to ease tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, where it has announced a strengthening of the military presence of French, according to the Elysée.
In a telephone interview with the Greek Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the head of State reiterated “its concern about the tensions caused by the unilateral decisions of Turkey in terms of oil exploration, which must cease in order to enable communication eased between neighbouring countries and allies within Nato”, the presidency said in a press release.
“Recalling the importance of resolving the current differences through dialogue”, he “stressed the need for greater cooperation between Greece and Turkey and welcomed the initiative of mediation initiated by Germany”, adds the text.
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“enforce international law”
“in Order to better appreciate the situation in the Mediterranean region and mark its determination to ensure respect for international law, the president has decided, temporarily, to reinforce the presence of French military in the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days, in cooperation with the european partners, including Greece”, concludes the press release. The Elysée was not able to give immediate details on the strengthening of the French presence.
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The discovery in recent years of vast gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean has sharpened the appetite of the riparian countries, and heightened tensions between Turkey and Greece, neighbouring countries and allies within Nato, relations regularly punctuated by crises.
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The situation deteriorated on Monday after the deployment by Ankara of a vessel to seismic research, escorted by military vessels, in the south-east of the Aegean sea, an area of the Mediterranean, fought and rich in gas deposits. The Greek navy is also present in the area to “monitor” the activities in turkey, according to Athens. Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said on Wednesday that Greece would not seek to escalate the tension, while warning that “no provocation will not remain unanswered”.
