The positive remarks from both leaders during the joint press conference marked a shift towards a more cooperative and constructive relationship after years of tension between the neighbours.

Erdogan’s vision to turn the Aegean into a “sea of peace and cooperation” and Mitsotakis’ call for a “future of peace, progress, and cooperation” set an optimistic tone, opening the door to potential bilateral resolutions and regional stability in the East Mediterranean Sea.

Erdogan’s constructive statesmanship and statements before his visit to Athens formed a basis for this new situation.

A diplomatic breakthrough

The Eastern Mediterranean energy conflict lies at the heart of the tensions between Ankara and Athens – a complex issue rooted in disputes over maritime boundaries and energy resources.

The recent meeting between Erdogan and Mitsotakis hints at a commitment to finding mutually beneficial solutions.

Resolving this dispute is not only about easing immediate tensions but also holds broader implications for the stability and prosperity of the entire region.

In that regard, Türkiye may play a pivotal role in providing a win-win resolution to the EastMed energy dilemma for all parties.

Situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Türkiye serves as an intercontinental bridge and pan-regional energy hub for transporting Eastern Mediterranean gas to European markets.

For instance, international projects like TurkStream and TANAP, designed for efficient transportation of natural gas through Anatolia, put Türkiye as the most cost-effective and prudent destination and partner for fostering mutually beneficial collaborations in transportation ventures to the Western side of the world.

When it comes to facilities, Ankara’s well-established capacity in exploring, drilling and extracting gas can contribute to a potential joint campaign led by Greece and Türkiye, with the involvement of other regional actors, instead of paying for non-regional actors.

Furthermore, Türkiye’s discovery of natural gas reserves with a market value of $1 trillion in the Black Sea has marked the beginning of a new era for the country in self-sufficiency in meeting its natural gas requirements.

Such potential campaigns not only benefit Ankara but also create a mutually advantageous scenario for the entire region, fostering economic growth and stability with regional ‘cooperation’ as the only way out of the energy dilemma.

Regional cooperation platform

A strengthened partnership between Türkiye and Greece transcends economic benefits.

The Eastern Mediterranean region has witnessed increased militarisation in the past few years. And a cooperative approach will not only reduce the likelihood of armed confrontations but also provide a framework for crafting a blueprint to address the energy dilemma under Greece and Türkiye’s leadership, fostering a more stable and prosperous region.

Therefore, it is imperative to establish a cooperation platform for projecting an inclusive roadmap, encouraging all stakeholders to adopt a comprehensive maritime concord, and ensuring fairness and compliance with international law, such as the regional accord between Türkiye and Libya signed in 2019.

Moreover, the positive momentum generated by this diplomatic thaw may open the door to increased cultural and people-to-people exchanges under the realities of shared history, cultural ties, and geographical proximity between the people of Greece and Türkiye.

Global implications

In the broader context of international relations, the growing diplomatic ties between Türkiye and Greece send a positive message about the efficacy of diplomatic solutions to longstanding conflicts.

In an era dominated by geopolitical tensions, the success of dialogue and negotiation over confrontation sets a precedent for resolving disputes through political means. The renewed friendship between Greece and Türkiye stands as an example for other nations facing longstanding conflicts, emphasising the power of diplomacy in overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges.

The reconciliation, along with numerous agreements, also underscores the international optimism surrounding the leaders’ commitment to resolving longstanding issues and promoting cooperation.

While this diplomatic breakthrough is a cause for optimism, it is essential to recognise the challenges ahead.

Building trust and sustaining positive momentum requires continued efforts from both sides. The implementation of confidence-building measures, ongoing dialogue, and a commitment to compromise will be crucial as the world watches with hope that this positive momentum will not only endure but also inspire other nations to seek diplomatic solutions to their own longstanding issues.

Consequently, the recent meeting can be a decisive moment to end the turbulent situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. The potential benefits of improved relations extend beyond the bilateral scope, influencing the economic, security, and cultural landscape of the entire region.

As both nations embark on a journey towards friendship, the imperative now lies in leveraging international mediation to establish a joint task platform for resource management.

This platform, committed to transparently handling the exploration and distribution of energy resources, has the potential to capitalise on Türkiye’s expertise and facilities in exploration, drilling, and transportation.

For championing a win-win vision, this reconciliation should pursue a lasting resolution that can uplift the entire region. It not only boosts stability but also sets a significant precedent for productive cooperation in the complex Eastern Mediterranean geopolitics.

Source: TRT World

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Türkiye’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said Thursday that the country refuted manipulative news by a Greek channel that wanted to harm relations between Ankara and Athens. 

“Greece’s ANT1 television channel aired a news report during its main news bulletin, claiming that Türkiye harassed Greek fishermen in Kardak, based on some footage as evidence,” Fahrettin Altun wrote on X.

Altun said the footage was from three years ago and Turkish coast guard officials confirmed that there was no tension at that time.

He noted that the Center for Combating Disinformation announced the false news in three languages: Turkish, Greek and English.

“Following the denial, ANT1 television had to correct its news due to the reactions received. We are determined to continue our fight for the truth, not only for our country but for all of humanity,” he wrote.

Source: AA

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According to a ministry press release “views were exchanged on strengthening the cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the responsibilities of the two ministries. Ways of cooperation between the two countries for the joint fight against irregular migration and migrant smuggling were discussed. Additionally, the issue of strengthening cooperation and communication between the Greek-Turkish Coast Guard authorities was evaluated.

The Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy also paid a courtesy visit to Turkish Coast Guard Command.”

“Today is a new start in jointly dealing with migration flows at sea,” Stylianides said.

Greece’s state Athens Macedonian News agency reported that the two sides agreed that the Turkish gendarmerie will take preventive action against migrant flows to prevent them from embarking on boats for the journey across the Aegean Sea to the Greek islands. The two sides also agreed on more frequent communication between the commanders of their respective coast guards and among the port authorities.

Yerlikaya is scheduled to visit Athens in February and meet again with Stylianides, as well as Migration and Asylum Minister Dimitris Kairidis and Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis.

Source: Ekathimerini

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The Greek island of Chios will be promoted through a far-reaching program to be carried out by the municipality and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), announced Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi.

The Greek minister recently met with GNTO Secretary General Dimitris Fragakis and Chios Mayor Stamatis Karmantzis to discuss ways to promote the island and increase tourist flows.

In addition to a series of ongoing upgrade works expected to contribute to the increase in arrivals, Mitarachi said the ministry would be allocating 500,000 euros to the Chios Municipality to jointly formulate a targeted marketing strategy for the island in collaboration with the GNTO.

(L-R) Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi; GNTO Secretary General Dimitris Fragakis. Photo source: Migration Ministry.

The agreement, to be finalized in the coming weeks, foresees the international promotion of Chios for a 12-month period to be implemented in three phases.

“Tourism is a key pillar of development for Chios in the coming years… but promotion is necessary,” said Mitarachi referring to additional funds channeled for the promotion of the island in the past in efforts to restore its reputation after the refugee crisis.

“The refugee issue is no longer a topic of discussion for future visitors to the island. It is no longer putting a disproportionate burden on the island,” he said.

Mitarachi went on to express his optimism, adding that there was still more room for improvement. In this direction, he said the creation of a private tourism promotion agency, support from the Chamber and from local stakeholders is crucial to the island’s tourism development.

“Chios is one of the 10 Greek islands which are on a development path and in the coming years will play a very important role as part of a new type of tourist product,” said Fragakis.

Source: GTP

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In a Knightsbridge hotel suite furnished with an Italian marble bathroom, individually selected artworks and “touch me fabrics”, two fiftysomething men who agreed to meet on the condition of total secrecy were wondering: “Can we make history?” Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had invited George Osborne, former Conservative politician and current chair of the British Museum, to explore a deal to end one of the world’s bitterest political and cultural disputes: the row over the fate of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon Sculptures.

Two centuries after they were hauled from the ruins of the Parthenon temple in Athens by a British nobleman, the treasures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, are among the greatest in the British Museum. Housed in a dedicated room, the sculptures of Olympian gods and goddesses, centaurs and warriors, are unmatched examples of the artistry and ambition of fifth century BCE Athens.

The showstopper is the Frieze, the marble relief decorated with men and women in a stately procession, which ran round the 160m-long inner colonnade of the Parthenon. Lord Elgin brought 75m of it to London, the largest surviving portion.

Greece wants it back. “It’s my passion,” Mitsotakis told the Financial Times, as he reflected on that first meeting with Osborne at the Berkeley Hotel in November 2021. “I wanted it very much from the first time I saw the Frieze when I was about 18 years old and visited the British Museum.

What shocked and infuriated me was that the monument was broken. It’s like you’ve taken the Mona Lisa and cut it in half.” Osborne listened intently as Mitsotakis set out his case. He had barely given any thought to the Parthenon Sculptures during his career in British politics. He’s best known for his role as the country’s “austerity chancellor” after the global financial crash.

But recently installed as chair of the world’s oldest public museum, Osborne saw a chance to show he is running an enlightened institution ready to engage in the debate about the repatriation of artefacts. He also saw a man across the table with whom he could do business. “Nobody has tried, well, ­forever,” Osborne has told colleagues.

Lord Ed Vaizey, a Tory peer and former UK culture secretary who is heading a campaign to return the Parthenon Sculptures to the Acropolis, says of Osborne’s plan: “I think the climate is better than it has been for 200 years to resolve this.”

At a time western countries are grappling with their colonial pasts, negotiations that stemmed from that first meeting are guaranteed to attract attention. “The Greek PM turns up in his motorcade and it’s all too exciting — George is back on the stage,” said one senior figure in the British arts, when asked why they thought Osborne was doing it.

It’s also, the person adds, a major strategic ­challenge for the British Museum. The world will be watching. There are few things that Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks about with visible passion. After three and a half years at the helm of his country, he is known for his efficiency, organisational skills and pro-business reforms. The Harvard-educated, former McKinsey consultant is the scion of a political family.

His father Konstantinos served as Greece’s prime minister in the early 1990s. Despite spending a lot of time with Greek politicians during the decade when Europe anxiously contemplated economic crises in Athens, Osborne hardly knew Mitsotakis before their meeting. But the two hit it off. Mitsotakis told colleagues afterwards that there was “trust and respect”, while Osborne saw the Greek premier as an effective technocrat, joking to colleagues that Mitsotakis, an Anglophile, was “Greece’s Rishi Sunak”.

Osborne has declined to speak publicly about his talks with Mitsotakis, fearing that anything he says could be used against the prime minister, who is facing an election in the coming months. But colleagues said he immediately believed a deal could be struck. “Essentially, you had two rational people in a room without any of the baggage or history,” said one British Museum insider. “You should be able to come up with an arrangement where some of the marbles at any one time are in London and some of them are in Athens.”

Rational it may be, but Greece believes the marbles were stolen by Elgin, belong to the Greek people and should be returned immediately to the magnificent new Acropolis Museum in Athens. Osborne, meanwhile, is constrained by a 1963 Act of Parliament, which stops the British Museum permanently handing back the Parthenon Sculptures.

The UK government is not about to change the law, despite calls to do so by a Unesco committee in 2021. Failure to find a deal is a very real possibility. Osborne’s proposal employs a number of strategies to bridge the gap between the sides, including the cultural version of a hostage swap.

According to people briefed on the plan, it would see a series of loan deals involving the marbles, which would gradually build up trust. Greece would not renounce its claim — it would be a big problem for Mitsotakis to accept a “loan” of what he regards as Greek property — but the British Museum would agree to ship to Athens potentially one-third or more of the marbles for a set time period, such as 10 years. There is a precedent.

One of the marbles — the river god Ilissos — was loaned out before, to Vladimir Putin, for display at St Petersburg’s Hermitage museum in 2014. One obvious problem is whether the Greeks would return them at the end of the loan period. Richard Lambert, Osborne’s predecessor as British Museum chair and a former editor of the FT, says: “My assumption was that once loaned, they would not come back.” A British Museum insider admits: “Possession is nine-tenths of the law in terms of fairly large marble sculptures.” Part of Osborne’s answer is that in exchange for some of the Parthenon Sculptures, Athens would loan Greek treasures to London as “collateral”.

The spectacular frescoes of Santorini, dating back to 1700 BCE, have been mentioned in Athens as among potential candidates for such a swap. The second element of the Osborne plan would be that, when the loan expired, the marbles would be returned to London, but a bigger portion would be simultaneously sent to Athens as an incentive, making Greece a permanent home for the sculptures at any given time.

As confidence in the deal increased over time, a “ratchet” would be introduced so that more would be sent gradually. Some trustees at the British Museum envisage a situation where half the Parthenon Sculptures could be in London and the other half in Athens at any one time. Talks are also under way on a legal agreement whereby Greece entering into a contract with the British Museum would not force Athens to accept the museum’s ownership of the marbles on principle.

In a statement, the British Museum echoed recent public comments made by Osborne, insisting it operates within the law and would not be dismantling its collection. “We are, however, looking at long-term partnerships, which would enable some of our greatest objects to be shared with audiences around the world,” it added.

“Discussions with Greece about a Parthenon Partnership are ongoing and constructive.” For now it is a firm “no deal” from Mitsotakis. In a second meeting at the hotel in late 2022, he told Osborne that he wants the Frieze back permanently, not on loan and not handed over in portions. But both still believe a deal is possible. Mitsotakis said in January he hoped to repatriate the marbles soon: “If the Greek people trust us again, I believe we could achieve this target after the elections.”

The flurry of cultural diplomacy has refocused attention on the highly charged arguments surrounding the Parthenon Sculptures, how they came to Britain and what case there is for keeping them in London. But at the British Museum there is little evidence of the decades-old call for the works to be sent back.

A museum assistant said pamphlets dealing with the dispute were usually put out in the main viewing hall, but when the FT visited in late January none were available. Following inquiries at an information desk in the Central Court, some were found stored in a cupboard. The call for repatriation and the dispute of legal title is mentioned, as well as the construction of the Acropolis Museum, but the remainder of the text offers a full-throated defence of the British Museum’s policy, including the disputed claim that Elgin, who was Britain’s ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, removed statues from the ground and the building “acting with the full knowledge and permission” of local authorities.

The subject is similarly glossed over at the Acropolis Museum, which opened in 2009. There, two kinds of sculptures are displayed on the third floor overlooking the Parthenon: originals and plaster copies of those that are missing. Placed next to each other, they create a stark contrast. Other than a discreet mark indicating that the original piece is in London there are no further explanatory signs, besides a video for visitors depicting their loss. Elsewhere, curators display the marble chunks sawn off and discarded by Lord Elgin’s team as they looked to save weight for the journey to England.

Nikos Stambolidis, director-general of the Acropolis Museum and a professor of archaeology, argues no museum outside Athens could provide visitors with the experience of seeing the sculptures in the place in which they were created. “You won’t be able to feel them under the Athenian light or see how the changing seasons affect them,” he said. “The key person in the removal of the Parthenon Sculptures is the Italian painter Giovanni Battista Lusieri,” according to Tatiana Poulou, an archaeologist based in Athens. Elgin hired Lusieri as his chief artist with the idea that he would make Greek architecture known widely not only through drawings but by creating mouldings and exact models that could be brought back to Britain.

Poulou has read Elgin’s archives in his Broomhall House near Edinburgh, poring over more than 500 letters he exchanged during his time as ambassador. She says she often had goosebumps as she read them. In one dated September 1801, she says, “Lusieri asked for 12 saws from Lord Elgin to cut the sculptures from the temple and reduce their weight.” In January 1802 he wrote to Elgin again. “My Lord, I’m pleased to announce that I’m in possession of the eight metopes, the one where the centaurs carry a woman. The piece has caused much trouble in many ways, and I was forced to be a little barbaric.”

The first boat Lusieri chartered left Athens that year filled with 16 boxes of antiquities, but it sank off the island of Kythira. At lavish expense, Elgin hired the best divers available — fishermen from the island of Kalymnos — who worked for three years to recover the stones. Though the treasures made it to Britain, he ended up ruined financially.

The whole undertaking cost him £74,000, about £5.5mn today. In 1816, the British Museum bought them from him for less than half that. Elgin became a hate figure for some in Britain, notably the great Romantic poet Lord Byron, who eventually died in the cause of Greek freedom. “Dull is the eye that will not weep to see/Thy walls defac’d, thy mouldering shrines removed/By British hands,” he wrote in “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”.

“Greece has had the better spin-doctors ever since,” says Richard Lambert. What shocked and infuriated me is that the Frieze is broken. it’s like you’ve taken the Mona Lisa and cut it in half Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek PM Today, the person providing PR advice for the Greek prime minister is Ed Williams, boss of Edelman in Europe. After his election in the summer of 2019, Mitsotakis decided to look again at the marbles question, which had been frozen for years. Realising that there was no obvious legal route to regaining them, he started working to influence British public opinion, making the Greek case in the UK media.

The wind seems to be in his favour: a YouGov poll from 2021 showed 59 per cent of ­Britons believe the marbles belong in Greece, against 18 per cent for the UK. Raging since the 1800s, the debate now finds itself front and centre in 21st-century questions about whether western museums — including giants like the British Museum and the Louvre — should be returning artefacts to their country of origin. In the most recent reversal of longstanding policies on restitution, museums around the world have begun returning the celebrated Benin Bronzes, looted by British troops in the 19th century, to Nigeria.

The British Museum, which holds more than 900 of these artefacts, has yet to announce returns but said it “actively engages” with Nigerian institutions as one of several museums in the so-called Benin Dialogue Group. These are helping to establish new museums in Benin City, in which objects from their collections would eventually go on permanent display. Recommended The Weekend Essay The Benin Bronzes and the road to restitution Those who question the movement to return objects say there is a need for institutions where the sweep of cultural history can be viewed and experienced in one place. “The argument for keeping the sculptures here is that you can see them in the context of the whole of humanity,” says the former British Museum chair Lambert.

The problem, says Mary Beard, a classical historian and British Museum trustee, is that the marbles fulfil two roles which are in conflict. Not only are they a very powerful symbol of the Greek nation, she says, “They’re also active symbols and representatives of the idea of Hellenic and Greek and classical culture the world over . . . They have a national and an international role.” With eight million objects in its storehouses, could the British Museum find other ways of telling this story? Vaizey thinks so, dismissing as “bollocks” the claim that the marbles had to stay in London as part of a holistic global culture experience. “The British Museum is full of Greek artefacts which could perfectly well act as substitutes for ­Hellenic sculpture to the Parthenon Sculptures.”

The argument that a resolution of the Parthenon dispute would put the British Museum on a “slippery slope” to wholesale returns also gets short shrift from many museum experts. Alexander Herman, director of the Institute of Art & Law, says the marbles are “close to unique” in terms of the interest the dispute has generated and the intensity of feeling on the claimant’s side. Beard says the view of the museum’s trustees as “crusty old bastards” trying to stop the marbles returning to Greece, could not be further from the truth. Trustees have, she says, “obligations to the future of the museum and one of the aspects . . . that will make the museum thrive is if we could get some sort of beginning of a resolution of this.” Her view is that the British Museum should be seen as a kind of “lending library”.

She would love millions of people to see the marbles not just in London and Athens but in cities like Mumbai. She adds: “We have a universal world city in London. It needs a global museum.” The question is what an 18th-century museum should look like today. Osborne’s answer to this broader question is the £1bn Rosetta Project, the biggest museum redevelopment ever seen in Britain. Its aim is to overhaul an ageing building and reinvent the museum, making it less “Mediterranean-centric” and showcasing more art from Asia, Africa and the Americas. Details will be announced in the spring.

He has spoken to colleagues about how this new-look museum would address the old question of the Parthenon Sculptures, saying that it should embrace the issue and use it to explain how they were now part of a “great agreement with Athens.” If the British Museum’s trustees were seeking cover for a policy of inertia, the political environment in the UK could scarcely be more favourable, given the Tory government’s disdain for “woke culture”. Its reaction to protests over contested public sculptures, for instance, was to change the law in 2021 to require planning permission for their removal.

Greek politicians believe, however, it will be harder to raise the £1bn for Osborne’s museum refit in the current climate unless he resolves the marbles dispute. “For donors, especially in the US, they will be happy to see this,” says one. Osborne insists to colleagues that his proposals for loaning the marbles to Athens are not about money or wooing billionaires, but clearly it might help. If there is to be a deal on the marbles, it is not expected until after Greek elections, which Mitsotakis is favourite to win. He is not about to embrace anything which effectively sees the British Museum loaning “stolen” goods back to the country from which they were supposedly looted.

But both sides expect talks to resume and believe there has never been a better chance of a deal, despite the political rhetoric around the dispute. Osborne does not need British political support to loan the marbles to Greece — they belong to the museum — but believes privately that Sunak’s government will support the idea anyway. Vaizey agrees: “I don’t think George would do a loan without the British government being squared beforehand. There would be a clamour for the government to intervene, but I don’t think they would.” “There’s a high chance this doesn’t work,” Osborne has told friends.

“But there’s also a high chance that it does. There’s a reason why this hasn’t been solved — it’s not easy.” Beard is hopeful. “I think the politics has changed,” she says. “Do I think that in 50 or perhaps 20 years all the marbles are going to be in the same place? No.” George Parker is the FT’s political editor. Eleni Varvitsioti is Greece and Cyprus correspondent. James Pickford is art news correspondent Follow @FTMag on Twitter to find out about our latest stories first

Source: Financial Times

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The ever-growing “Greek Breakfast” initiative, which introduces Greek food products to travelers staying at hotels in Greece, will be promoted abroad through a series of actions.

More specifically, the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (HCH), which launched the project a decade ago, has teamed up with Marketing Greece for the creation of related content to be featured in discovergreece.com as well as for the launch of a special campaign and promotion through Marketing Greece’s social media, newsletter and posts.

The aim is to promote Greek breakfast habits and culture through recipes and products and to bring together the primary sector with the tourism industry and integrate local food products into the traveler experience.

“The ‘Greek Breakfast’ initiative is moving into the new era, upgraded and improved on all levels, with planned actions so that it remains relevant and dynamic, while meeting the needs of its members,” said Aris Soulounias, HCH vice president and head of the initiative.

“The value of gastronomy and its contribution to the identity of the Greek tourist product is a given,” said Marketing Greece CEO Ioanna Dretta, adding that through Greek gastronomy, travelers can gain immediate insight into the authentic way of life.

Earlier this year, hoteliers on Chios, Karpathos and Kasos  joined the “Greek Breakfast” program showcasing local Greek products through breakfast menus.

Source: GTP

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Three people have died and up to 12 others are missing after a dinghy carrying migrants overturned near the Greek resort island of Mykonos, officials said.

The incident in the Aegean Sea occurred early Friday. The search involving two rescue helicopter along with coast guard and private vessels was launched after two men, a Palestinian and a Syrian, swam to rocks near the shore and were spotted by authorities.

The bodies of two adult women and an adult man were recovered at sea several hours later.

Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Kokkalas said moderate winds were prevailing in the search area, adding that the incident occurred at around 6 a.m. off the northeast shore of Mykonos.

The island is more than 150 kilometers from the closest point on the Turkish coast.

Smugglers based in Turkiye have frequently chosen open sea routes in recent years to try to avoid the heavily patrolled waters of the eastern Aegean where several large Greek islands lie close to the Turkish coast.

Source: Arab News

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Odd couple is holding back deal on new sanctions against Russia.

After largely playing solo in its opposition against Russian sanctions, Budapest is now getting support from Athens in its skepticism over the freshest measures against Russia, five EU diplomats told POLITICO.

The EU is currently discussing its 11th sanctions package against Russia after the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago. Whereas the 10 previous sanctions packages focused on measures to empty Vladimir Putin’s war chest, Brussels now wants to avoid its sanctions being circumvented. In an unprecedented step for the bloc, the current package could target other countries helping Moscow dodge its trade embargo.

But Budapest and Athens have thrown a collective spanner in the works by linking their approval for the package to a separate thorny issue involving Ukraine. Kyiv has compiled a list of private companies it calls “war sponsors,” which includes a number of European companies. 

The odd couple wants some of their companies struck off this list before they will agree to the sanctions package. While these issues normally aren’t linked, Hungary and Greece are using the sanctions package as political leverage to get their companies off Ukraine’s list. 

This sparked tensions at a meeting of EU foreign ministers earlier this week, where German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock directly criticized Hungary, according to diplomats familiar with the exchange.

At a meeting of EU ambassadors Wednesday, Greece was very much at the forefront of the discussion, four of the diplomats said. Athens pushed back against suggestions of sanction circumvention. 

“Greece reiterated that, should there be concrete evidence of violation of sanctions, these should be brought to the attention of the member states concerned, at the technical level, so that this be adequately investigated and then due action will be taken,” an EU diplomat familiar with the dossier said. “In the case of the Ukrainian name-and-shame list, the Greek companies are accused as International War Sponsors even though they are not violating the restrictive measures against Russia.”

Another EU diplomat said that while they empathized with the Greek position, “the question is how much does it damage [their economy], and Greece says it’s very damaging. We don’t have a problem with that position — but independently of that we of course want the next sanctions package.”

Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, has already vowed to work through the differences on the Ukrainian list. Two of the diplomats said it is now up to him to work with the Ukrainians on a solution.

No deal in sight

Another EU diplomat said that, as long as Hungary and Greece refuse to agree on anything before their companies are off the list, “there is no pressure to really move on the other parts either.” 

Yet diplomats also say they look at Athens and Budapest differently. The level of frustration with Budapest is much higher, given its pro-Russia and pro-China line has often prevented the EU from reaching unanimity on statements on Moscow and Beijing. It is also blocking the approval of an eighth tranche of EU money to reimburse military aid to Ukraine.

A new version of the package, sent to EU envoys Wednesday and seen by POLITICO, does not include major changes. The third draft adapts some technical language regarding the release of frozen assets and clarifies that Kazakh oil can still be sent through the Druzhba pipeline to Europe. It also adds more than 50 additional Russian companies for which EU authorities cannot authorize transfers of dual-use goods and technology to compared to a previous version of the sanctions draft. 

At both meetings this week, Germany and others were again skeptical about naming and shaming other countries, as they are afraid it would hurt diplomatic relations or drive other countries suspected of facilitating sanctions busting into the arms of Russia or China.

It’s not clear yet when EU envoys will discuss the sanctions package again. Two of the diplomats said that there is consensus about one thing: to agree on the package in the end. 

But with no clear deadline yet, it could be a while before the diplomats make substantive progress. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Monday that the package has to be wrapped up by the next Foreign Affairs Council — but that is not until June 26 and falls just a few days before the meeting of European heads of state and government at the end of the month. However, some of the diplomats pushed back against that suggestion, saying a deal has to come sooner to avoid embarrassing the EU.

Source: Politico

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Prebookings by German travelers for Halkidiki are up by 19 percent compared to pre-Covid 2019, according to feedback collected by the Halkidiki Tourism Organization (HTO) during this year’s ITB show in Berlin.

The Halkidiki peninsula in Northern Greece, selected among the world’s best places to relax and unwind by Lonely Planet, appears to be this year’s top holiday destination by travelers in Germany and the UK, where prebookings were up by 16 percent over 2019.

The HTO attributes the rise in demand to more and earlier flights to Thessaloniki’s Makedonia Airport. Additionally, reservations by tourists from the Netherlands are up by 30 percent based on data presented by executives from Sunweb, TUI and Luxair.

HTO President Grigoris Tasios (left) and HTO General Director Georgios Broutzas (right) with their colleagues at ITB Berlin 2023. Photo source: Halkidiki Tourism Organization.

The HTO participated in this year’s ITB after a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19 and for the first time in cooperation with the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization with one stand presenting a combined city break-sea & sun travel experience.

The organization as well as Thessaloniki and Halkidiki tourism stakeholders participating in B2B meetings said public response was positive and travel intent increasing despite the cost-of-living crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war.

B2B meetings at ITB Berlin. Photo source: Halkidiki Tourism Organization.

For the first time this year, German tour operators are looking to include thematic tourism packages in their Halkidiki offerings such as maritime tourism, beekeeping, culinary and experiential tourism, said the HTO.

On the sidelines of ITB 2023, HTO officials had the chance to meet with the German press and to announce a series of press trips to Thessaloniki and Halkidiki.

With the slogan “Open for Change”, the world’s leading travel trade show ITB Berlin opened its doors on the Berlin exhibition grounds during March 7-9 for the first time as an exclusively B2B event.

Source: GTP

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Foreign ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu and Sameh Shoukry will discuss all aspects of bilateral ties.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, will visit Egypt on Saturday after an invitation by his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry – the first such trip in more than a decade.

The Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday that the two top diplomats will discuss all aspects of bilateral relations, as well as exchange views on regional and international matters.

For its part, the Egyptian foreign ministry said Cavusoglu’s visit “inaugurates path for restoring normal relations between the two countries”.

Relations between Turkey and Egypt turned frosty in 2013 when the Egyptian military, then led by current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, deposed democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader and an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

El-Sisi then outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and branded it a “terrorist” organisation.

Turkey has for years served as a refuge for opposition activists from Egypt, further stoking tensions between the two regional powers.

Longstanding disagreements over the countries’ opposing roles in war-hit Libya have also impeded efforts to achieve a full rapprochement.

World Cup handshake

After years of frozen ties, Egypt and Turkey held exploratory talks in May and September 2021 to discuss restoring ties.

In November 2022, el-Sisi and Erdogan shook hands in front of Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha. The leaders met on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the football World Cup in Qatar.

And last month, Shoukry visited Turkey following devastating earthquakes that killed tens of thousands of people. It was the first such trip by an Egyptian foreign minister in more than 10 years.

While diplomatic relations between Cairo and Ankara have often been thorny, economic ties have continued unabated. The volume of trade has nearly tripled from 2007 to 2020, according to the Carnegie Middle East Center.

Source: Aljazeera

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