Security concerns raised by Turkey in its opposition to Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership applications are legitimate, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday during a visit to Finland. “These are legitimate concerns. This is about terrorism, it’s about weapons exports,” Stoltenberg told a joint news conference with Finnish …
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Greece briefs NATO on mass airspace violations, freezes CBM with Turkey
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has briefed the Secretary General of the NATO on the massive airspace violations and overflights over small and big Greek islands and decided to freeze the Confidence Building Measures with Turkey. All in all a total of 168 violations of the Greek FIR were recorded on …
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Stoltenberg hints at risks from Turkey’s S-400, No-Fly Zone in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown the importance of NATO allies not being dependent on Russian military equipment, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in his speech at the Diplomacy Forum in Antalya on Friday. While he did not explicitly mentioned the Russian S-400 missiles, both Turkish and Greek media understood …
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NATO critical of Greek-French defense pact the Parliament ratifies later on Thursday
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appeared critical of EU defense initiatives and bilateral pacts within the bloc such as the one between Greece and France. “What I don’t believe in is efforts to try to do something outside the NATO’s framework or compete with or duplicate NATO because NATO remains the …
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NATO head urges EU to take “positive approach” towards Turkey
Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg has urged the European Union leaders to take a “positive approach” towards Turkey. “Τηε EU needs to realize τηε importance of Turkey as part of NATO, Western family,” Stoltenberg said, according to Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu. Acknowledging the existence of differences and disagreements …
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NATO moratorium didn’t age well: Turkey to conduct military exercises next week
The “moratorium” regarding cancelling of military exercises announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday evening did not age well. Just a few hours later, Turkey issued a navigation warning (NAVTEX) announcing naval exercises in the eastern Mediterranean for October 27-28, on the Greek National Holiday. On Friday, Stoltenberg …
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“It is up to Turkey to close the road to the crisis,” Greek PM tells Stoltenberg, Ankara
“It is up to Turkey to close the road to the crisis and pave the way for a solution. We are ready to meet it on this second path,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during joint statements with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after a meeting in his office …
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Greece and Turkey established de-confliction mechanism, said NATO
Greece and Turkey have established a military mechanism aimed at preventing standoffs between their warships and military aircraft in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea from breaking out into open conflict, the NATO announced on Thursday. Following a series of technical meetings between the Military Representatives of Greece and Turkey at NATO …
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Athens dismisses Stoltenberg’s claim “Greece, Turkey agreed to technical talks at NATO” UPD
Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, announced on Thursday afternoon that Greece and Turkey had agreed to start a dialogue and to enter into technical talks at NATO. Quick was the response of the Greek Foreign Ministry that dismissed Stoltenberg’s claims. Stoltenberg announced the “agreed dialogue” on a Twitter: Following …
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Turkey violates Greek air space, NATO insists on “equal distance” policy
With its army targeting Kurds in Syria, Turkey apparently cannot forget its claims in the Aegean Sea. On Friday, Turkish fighter jets flew over two Greek islands violating Greek air space. Two Turkish F-16s flew the islands of Oinousses and Panagia in the Eastern Aegean Sea on Friday noon. According …
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NATO formally invites FYROM to begin membership talks
NATO has formally invited FYROM to begin membership talks on joining the North Atlantic alliance. The invitation was issued on July 11 after the NATO Summit meeting in Brussels of heads of states from the 29 members. The invitation was expected after FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Greek Prime …
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Greek soldiers: Tsipras asks a more active role of NATO on the issue
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday on the sidelines of a European Council meeting in Brussels, where they discussed the FYROM name deal and the issue of the two Greek soldiers in custody in Turkish prison fro more than 110 days and without …
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NATO Stoltenberg: FYROM full membership only with full ratification and positive referendum outcome
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, that the NATO will invite the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to be full member of the North Atlantic Alliance only if it ratifies the Macedonia Agreement with Greece and YES will prevail in the referendum. Arriving at the European Union Council …
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NATO chief Stoltenberg warns of strains over alliance’s future
NATO’s breakdown is not inevitable — we can maintain it, and all the benefits we derive,” Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg warned. “It is not certain that NATO will survive amid the deep divisions between the U.S. and Europe, Stoltenberg wrote in a guest op-ed for …
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Trump praises Greece and 6 more countries for their NATO spending
For one more time, US President Donal Trump has praised Greece for its NATO spending. This time, Trump added another six European countries. “I want to thank the 7 NATO nations, in addition to US, who meet their 2% NATO defense spending. Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, UK., he …
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Tension between Greece and Turkey “not an issue for NATO,” says GenSec Stoltenberg
Tensions between Greece and Turkey are “not an issue for NATO,” the General Secretary of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with Turkish news agency Anadolu. Saying that both countries are “two highly valued NATO allies” Stoltenberg hailed the telephone conversation between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and …
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NATO maintains “equal distance policy” to Greek soldiers issue
Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, maintained the usual “equal distance policy” in the case of the two Greek soldiers currently in custody in Turkish prison. In an interview with Turkish news agency Anadolu, Stoltenberg was quoted as saying “this is an issue that must be resolved between Greece and …
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Imia: NATO SecGen calls on Greece and Turkey to de-escalate tension in Aegean
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a call on Thursday for the de-escalation of tension in the Aegean. The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance displayed absolute neutrality to tension between the two NATO members Greece and Turkey. Asked about a recent incident involving Greek and Turkish patrol boats …
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Stoltenberg rules out NATO’s invitation to FYROM without solution of ‘Macedonia’ name dispute
NATO will invite Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to join the Alliance as a member country once a mutually acceptable solution is reached in the name dispute with Greece, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says in an interview with Skopje’s news agency MIA. Asked whether FYROM will be extended a …
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NATO Stoltenberg: Turkish military officers seeking asylum in other NATO countries
A number of Turkish officers posted to Nato have sought asylum since the country’s failed military coup in July, Nato’s secretary-general said on Friday. Jens Stoltenberg said the officers had requested asylum in the countries where they had been posted but gave no names, numbers or reasons for the requests. …
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