Greece has warned Turkey that it may block Turkish access to a European Union defence fund unless Ankara guarantees that the weapons will not be used to target Athens.
Turkey, which is a member of NATO but not the EU, is technically eligible to access EU defence industry financing and joint procurement programmes as part of the bloc’s 150-billion-euro ($176-billion) Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative.
But Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Wednesday, July 23rd, to Skai TV that his country would not allow Turkey to take part in the defence scheme if it continued to threaten war against Greece and question its sovereignty in the Aegean Sea.
Turkey maintains a longstanding threat of war should Greece unilaterally expand its territorial waters in the Aegean.
Mitsotakis pointed out that all 27 EU members would have to agree before Turkey could access SAFE funds.
His comments came hours after Germany said it had approved the delivery of Eurofighter jets to Turkey.
Mitsotakis said that while Greece could, if deemed necessary, block Turkey from accessing SAFE funds, it could not actually prevent the Eurofighter deal. It could, however, set conditions.
