Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spelled it out clearly on Thursday after indirectly referring to the matter over the past few weeks: Turkey must lift a 30-year threat of war in order for Athens to acquiesce to its participation in the EU’s ambitious “ReArm” defense program.

“To allow the EU to conclude an agreement with a third-party state, unanimity of all member-states is needed. We will see how we’ll make use of this option,” he said, stressing that Turkey’s “casus belli” (threat of war) must “leave the table”.

Turkey’s national assembly passed a resolution in June 1995 threatening war in case Greece exercised its international rights, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to extend territorial beyond the current six nautical miles, among others. Under international law, Greece has a right to extend its territorial waters up to 12 nm.

“If Turkey wishes to join the EU’s funding instruments, the concerns of Greece and Cyprus should be taken into account. Thirty years on, the casus belli must be taken off the table. A decision that threatens a European country with war cannot continue to exist,” he said, speaking during a wide-ranging interview on local talk radio station Skai when asked about the Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE).

EU member-states are eyeing a package of up to 150 billion euros for the purchase of weapons systems and materiel.

Mitsotakis also maintained that this is the message he will deliver to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in any upcoming meeting.

It’s noteworthy that the next Greece-Turkey High Cooperation Council, where Mitsotakis and Erdogan would ostensibly meet, is set for this coming July. In a nod to such wide-ranging meetings, where ministry delegations from either side meet to work on fields of mutual interest, Mitsotakis said “we must have an open channel of communication with Turkey…and I insist that such meetings are useful, firstly, because it allows us to have an open channel of communication and at the same time it allows us to build bridges of cooperation in areas such as economy and migration.”

Turkish reaction

In a reply that came only hours later, a Turkish military spokesman in Ankara said efforts to exclude Turkey from European Union defense projects are “bound to fail”, saying they are neither well-intentioned nor wise.

Defense Ministry spokesman and top naval officer Zeki Akturk told reporters at a regular briefing, in statements that were widely reproduced by Turkish media, that “efforts aimed at ignoring Turkey’s (Türkiye) critical role in its region and its importance for Europe’s security are bound to fail. Bringing bilateral disputes to multilateral platforms and adopting an attitude aimed at excluding our country is neither well-intentioned nor a wise move.

“As a NATO and OSCE member and a EU candidate country, Turkey is an inseparable part of the European security architecture with its developing defense industry, important roles in resolving regional crises and strong army.”