“Greece is a strong country, the opposition is in a state of vertigo,” Serres MP and Secretary of International Relations and EU of the New Democracy, Tasos Hadjivassiliou, told OPEN on Thursday morning, referring to Greek-Turkish relations and the attitude of the opposition parties.

Hadjivassiliou clarified that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan “was agreed, arranged, confirmed”, stressing that “the leaks from the Turkish side were made for reasons of impression”. He said the government’s strategic choice is “to talk to Turkey despite structural disagreements” because “talking is a sign of confidence and responsibility” and “does not mean retreat”. Commenting on the postponement of the meeting, he said: “Ankara may have been annoyed by Greek initiatives in Crete, maritime spatial planning and the re-engagement with Libya to define an EEZ. Except that we plan foreign policy based on national interest, not on the wishes of third powers.”

At the same time, he cited two examples to show that Greece is not harmed by similar postponements: “In 2020, after the Evros crisis, Erdogan was saying ‘Mitsotakis yok’ and then did the opposite. In 2023, after Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ statement on the Parthenon Sculptures, former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled the meeting. He was considered, not Greece.” As he stressed, “the one who cancels is the one who is exposed.”

The Serres MP strongly criticized the opposition parties: “The opposition is possessed by vertigo. PASOK says that Erdogan cancelled the meeting and attacks the Prime Minister for alleged sloppiness. I don’t see a national front; I see zero seriousness. SYRIZA talks about isolating Greece. What isolated Greece? The Greece that brings Chevron south of Crete and does land planning? As for the far-right, there we have a storm in the skull, as they keep accusing Mitsotakis for talking to Erdogan and now they are calling him out because Erdogan cancelled the meeting.” He added: “Excuse me, how much do they want to drive us all crazy?”

Referring to Turkey, he noted that it “considers itself a regional pole”, but its attitude towards our moves in southern Crete and the Greece-Cyprus-Israel cable proves that “it considers us an absolutely powerful country”. As he said, “Turkey has been trying for years to rejoin major US defense programs, while Greece has moved forward: we are completing the F-16 upgrade, we have acquired Rafale, we are going for F-35 and we are now voting to acquire a 4th Belharra frigate.”