Germany, EU seek way to diffuse East Med crisis

The onus for mediating between Greece and Turkey and the simmering crisis in the eastern Mediterranean has shifted to Berlin and the European Union following the apparent failure of the effort by NATO to broker a dialogue.

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks to mediate again, European Council President Charles Michel said on Friday that European Union leaders plan to adopt a “carrot and stick” strategy opposite Turkey at a Sept. 24-25 summit and proposed a multilateral conference focusing on sea borders in the eastern Mediterranean, including NATO. Michel underlined the EU’s “full solidarity opposite Athens and Nicosia” in the face of Turkey’s transgressions.

“We will identify tools in our external policy, a sticks and carrots approach – what tools to use to improve the relationship and what tools to react (with) if we are not being respected,” said Michel, who is expected to visit Greece and Cyprus before the summit.

The new flurry of diplomacy came in the wake of an initiative by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to launch talks between Greece and Turkey on “establishing an enhanced deconflicting mechanism”. After Athens rebuffed his claims on Thursday that such talks had begun, Stoltenberg said on Friday that the talks were technical and that no agreement has been reached.

While Athens was annoyed about the development, the NATO chief’s initiative is broadly seen as an attempt to create a climate for dialogue rather than launch any substantive talks, which is what the new push by Berlin is aimed at achieving.