Mitsotakis | “We are concerned about Germany’s plans to export submarines to Turkey”

During an online conference, the Greek Prime Minister has expressed his concern about Germany’s plans to export submarines to Turkey. 

Speaking at a conference organized by the German newspapers “Der Tagesspiegel”, “Die Zeit” and “Handelsblatt”, as well as the business magazine “WirtschaftsWoche”, Mr. Mitsotakis stressed that he is not in favor of imposing sanctions, adding, however, that the threat of sanctions should be credible. “If it is not reliable, then it will not bring results. One of the reasons why Turkey has taken a step back and is now more constructive has to do with the fact that they realized that, even if the pace is slow, Europe is moving in the right direction.” 

Referring to the EU, the Greek Prime Minister hastened to note that “if you want to be a geopolitical power, sometimes you may have to accept the fact that you may suffer financial damage,” citing the US and their decision to impose sanctions in Turkey as an example. “They decided,” he said, “not to sell F-35s to Turkey. This is a big blow to the United States and to the US defence industry, but they decided to do it because they believed this was the right direction.”

At the same time, he referred to the fact that Germany will export attack submarines to Turkey. “We cannot accept that Turkey purchased and now uses S-400s made in Russia and will buy F-35 aircraft. They cannot have it both ways. Germany plans to export attack submarines to Turkey. This is an issue that concerns us. These are submarines of cutting-edge technology”, noted the Greek Prime Minister.

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