Greece tries to navigate new, ad hoc alliances
The latest moves to create a “coalition of the willing” among European nations to support Ukraine may have been made inevitable by the shift in US policy; but this period of turmoil has left Greece trying to find its footing.
Greece must not be happy at not being invited to the two meetings of the budding coalition, although it was, naturally, present at the European summit that was bookended by those meetings. Most worryingly for Athens – and Nicosia – was that Turkey was invited and is expected to play an important role.
European diplomats in Brussels said that it was, above all, French President Emmanuel Macron who was keen to include Turkey. He told his European colleagues that Turkey is available and that Ukraine welcomes this, as Turkey is a key player in the Black Sea. And for Europeans struggling to convince their public to support sending peace troops to Ukraine, even if that appears far off at present, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ability to ignore his own public is a bonus.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said at the EU summit that, besides the exposure of rifts within the bloc, it was wrong to invite Turkey, a country “that constantly violates sanctions against Russia.”
European diplomats told Kathimerini that excluding certain countries, such as Greece and even the frontline Baltic states, from the ad hoc talks is counterproductive.
Greece places a lot of importance on its excellent relations with Israel, but also with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
On Thursday, the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Israel will meet in Athens.
