Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos requested the aid of his Romanian counterpart Mihai Fifor for the release of the two Greek servicemen held in a Turkish prison in Adrianople.
During his official visit to Bucharest, Mr Kammenos made a dramatic appeal for help, despite the fact that a few hours earlier Greek PM Alexis Tsipras had dubbed the incident “usual”. In clear opposition to the Greek PM’s sentiment over the matter, Mr Kammenos called the two Greek soldiers “hostages”.

“Together, we will create an arc of stability, starting from Romania, continuing through the Balkans with Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Cyprus, up to Israel and Egypt, and all the moderate Middle East countries, so that peace, close cooperation, and stability can be consolidated in our region for the future of our peoples.”, Mr Kammenos said after his meeting with his Romanian counterpart.

He went on to say that “Romania and Greece have historically proven they can change the world. The Greek people will never forget that the Greek Revolution of 1821 (against the Ottomans) began from here, from Bucharest.

We are working for peace and we will continue to work for peace. At the same time, however, we call on all countries in the region to show respect for International Law, respect for the Alliance, the signed and the agreed.”

Mr Kammenos sais he had informed the Romanian Defence Minister about the incident that is currently taking place with Turkey. “At the moment, in Turkish prisons, we have two Greek hostages, an Officer, and a soldier. I request the support of the Romanian Minister of Defence for the immediate release of these NATO, European and Greek military personnel”, Kammenos said in a dramatic tone.