French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that Europe must protect its members’ sovereignty in the Eastern Mediterranean when it is cast into doubt. He said that France and Germany would act in a coordinated way and that both countries want a de-escalation of tensions and respect for sovereignty.
Macron was speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Fort de Bregancon in southern France.
The two leaders stressed that threats against the sovereignty of European Union member states are not acceptable. The statement came against the backdrop of Turkish aggression to Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The two leaders, who met to discuss major challenges facing the bloc, stressed the need for dialogue, with Macron saying they wished to show their solidarity with Greece and Cyprus.
He also expressed full French support for German mediation between Athens and Ankara.
The dialogue must start again, said Merkel, who added that a lot of tension has accumulated in the Eastern Mediterranean.
France and Germany share the “same goal” of “European sovereignty” and “stability” in the Eastern Mediterranean, Macron said.
“Our strategic goal in the Eastern Mediterranean is the same: European sovereignty and stability,” he said.
“We have the will to ensure stability in this region and the will to respect international law and to favor de-escalation,” he said.
“Then each of us has our own means to do it, each of us has his own history. We must work in a complementary way “, to achieve this common goal, the French president added.
“We will not accept attacks on the sovereignty of EU member states,” Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined.
“The situation in the Eastern Mediterranean is very important to us – we need stability there, not tensions. We have a very critical situation there and I am convinced that if Germany and France put their joint strength here, we will find good solutions to make, I hope, possible cooperation, but also to make it clear that – let’s say – attacks on sovereignty of EU member states will not be accepted by us. We are in favor of solving problems through talks and not through escalation of tensions. “This applies to everyone involved,” she said.
Asked about a possible difference in approach to the Eastern Mediterranean between Berlin and Paris, Merkel said: “There are different possibilities for action, one is to make it clear that we support our European partners – you can do it as France that deployed a ship. On the other hand, we supported the resumption of the dialogue between Greece and Turkey – this has not been achieved so far, but we are working on it – and a comprehensive project is being created from the various parts.”
Then she added something ‘transcendental” like “in this sense it is difficult to evaluate the two pieces in relation to each other. It is important that we do not work against each other, but work together for the same goal.”
Due to the pandemic, Merkel and Macron greet each other using the Hindu form of non-contact greeting, Namaste.
PS For Greek speakers Na-maste Να’ μαστε means also purely phonetic: Here we are. For the EU it means in this sense, that Macron follows a clearer policy towards Turkey, while Merkel tries to give time to her friend Erdogan to change his policy – which he will not.
Really…Arresting two elderly , dear greek grannies for helping their family and contributing to supporting countries debit.
A scene from ‘ Monty Python’….💡🙏🕊