France will support their fellow EU member states Greece and Cyprus in their disputes over maritime zones and energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, according to the French Minister of Defense.
“France intends to stand by Greece and help it to confront multiple tensions in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean,” French Defense Minister Florence Parly told To Vima newspaper in an interview.
“France supports Greece and Cyprus on the issue of respecting their sovereignty in maritime zones and condemns, together with its European partners, Turkey’s lack of respect of these fundamental rules,” Parly declared.
In her interview for the Greek newspaper, published on Sunday, the French Defense Minister pointed out that French President Emmanuel Macron had been clear when he met with Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis in late January that Paris and Athens would strengthen their cooperation in the realm of defense.
A frigate from the Greek Navy is now escorting the gigantic French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle in its operations in the Mediterranean.
Greece was angered by an accord between Libya and Turkey signed on November 27, 2019, mapping out a supposed sea boundary between the two countries close to the Greek island of Crete.
Greece’s territorial boundaries are, of course, also the external borders of the European Union.
The country declared the Libyan-Turkish accord to be not only a blatant violation of international law but simply “absurd” as well, arguing that it completely ignored the presence of the Greek island of Crete between the coasts of Turkey and Libya.
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