Editorial: Lines

The upcoming NATO Summit is bound to be newsworthy as it is US President Joe Biden’s maiden appearance and it thus signals the full return of the US to the geopolitical chessboard in an exceptionally fluid period.

From that perspective, it will be interesting to see how we move in relation to Turkey and to the US. Our strategy must be clear, as should our red lines and coordinated efforts to dialogue.

We will have an opportunity to act in an absolutely organised and formal manner on the sidelines of the Summit. One can achieve aims during PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the possible Biden-Mitsotakis meeting.

At the two meetings the PM can remind his interlocutors about Greece’s unswerving positions and Athens can update its relations with NATO and the EU as a pole of stability in the broader Southeastern Mediterranean region.

That necessitates that we see this Summit as a restart of NATO, with Greece as an organic member, after the erratic Trump administration.

On the contrary, Turkey with its diversionary policies will have more territory to cover and more people to persuade.

That will be one of the advantages with which we shall participate in the crucial Summit.