European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker called on Turkey to release the two Greek soldiers being held in a Turkish prison in Adrianople during a speech before the Greek parliament on Thursday.

“Turkey continues to do illegal things in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. In a recent meeting with Erdogan in Varna we reminded him of the obligation to respect good neighbourly relations and international law.

“Let us not forget the two Greek soldiers. They can’t tell me the presence of the two Greeks in Turkey is a threat to Turkey’s security. They must be freed”, he said.

“Greece is a great nation, one that we Europeans owe a great deal; Greece is one of the axes of stability in the Balkans,” the EU Commission President continued.

He told Greece’s Parliament deputies and attending political leaders that “we cannot leave Greece alone to manage the migrant crisis”, he underlined.
Meanwhile, yesterday, for the third time, the Turkish court rejected the Greek soldiers’ request to be released. According to the Turkish media, the judges took the decision on the grounds that “the evidence that resulted in their detention had not changed”.

The two Greeks have been in prison since early March, waiting for formal charges to be laid by prosecutors.