{"id":491495,"date":"2025-10-11T17:12:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T17:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/491495\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T17:12:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T17:12:12","slug":"greece-faces-eu-pressure-over-turkiyes-participation-in-safe-defense-program-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/491495\/","title":{"rendered":"Greece faces EU pressure over T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s participation in SAFE defense program: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON <\/strong><\/p>\n

The EU is reportedly seeking to include T\u00fcrkiye in its \u20ac150 billion ($175 billion) Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program, with Germany expected to press Greece to drop its objections.<\/p>\n

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is expected to urge Greece to approve Ankara\u2019s participation during a Monday visit to Athens, Greek daily Kathimerini reported Saturday.<\/p>\n

The visit comes as the Nov. 30 deadline for countries wishing to receive loans through SAFE approaches, adding pressure on Greece to reconsider its stance on T\u00fcrkiye, a longtime candidate for EU membership.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of a European Political Community (EPC) summit in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

Reports say the meeting, requested by Rutte, focused on unblocking T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s participation in SAFE.<\/p>\n

However, Mitsotakis reiterated that he would not approve T\u00fcrkiye’s involvement due to ongoing disputes in the Aegean and the casus belli dispute between Ankara and Athens.<\/p>\n

In the mid-1990s, Greece had attempted to extend its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea to 12 nautical miles but scuttled the plan after T\u00fcrkiye declared that such a move would be a casus belli, or cause for war.<\/p>\n

– ‘Nearly all EU countries support defense cooperation with T\u00fcrkiye’<\/p>\n

According to Kathimerini, nearly all other EU countries support cooperation with T\u00fcrkiye, citing the state\u2019s position as NATO\u2019s second-largest army and its flourishing defense industry.<\/p>\n

Only France and the Greek Cypriot Administration reportedly share Greece\u2019s objections, while Scandinavian countries are also said to back Ankara\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n

SAFE, adopted by EU leaders in May, is meant to provide competitively priced, long-term loans to accelerate urgent defense procurement.<\/p>\n

It forms part of the European Commission’s ReArm Europe Plan\/Readiness 2030, aiming to mobilize over \u20ac800 billion in defense spending.<\/p>\n

While the loans will be available only to EU member states, Ukraine and European Free Trade Association-European Economic Area (EEA-EFTA) countries will also be eligible to participate in joint procurement under the scheme.<\/p>\n

T\u00fcrkiye applied for EU membership in 1987 and has been a candidate country since 1999.<\/p>\n

Its membership negotiations started in 2005 but have stalled in recent years due to political hurdles erected by some countries.<\/p>\n


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