Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed European Council President António Costa to the Maximos Mansion, the Greek prime minister’s official offices in Athens, on Thursday afternoon (3 September). The two leaders were giving joint statements live at the time of writing.

Addressing the recent escalation with Turkey, Mitsotakis said: “My country is a peaceful nation, which poses no threat to anyone. But it will not accept instructions from anyone on how it strengthens its defensive capabilities.”

He continued: “I would remind you that a condition of participation in the SAFE programme, the European Union’s joint defence procurement and financing scheme, is that it must not undermine the security interests of member states. I also want to update the president on the recent escalation of Turkish provocations, particularly in the Aegean. Respect for international law and for good-neighbourly relations is, after all, a precondition for the European path of any candidate country.”

Mitsotakis stressed that there was “no active threat of war, nor any challenge to Greek sovereignty, from a country that hopes to improve its relations with the European Union.” He added: “Turkey’s European path, which we want to support, cannot but go hand in hand with building good-neighbourly relations.”