FM: ‘Only action can produce momentum’

George Gerapetritis and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, are expected to hold talks in Athens next month centered on the next steps for possibly moving ahead with negotiations on the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf delimitation, the Greek foreign minister confirms in an interview with Kathimerini.

He notes that there is no question of continuing the past process of exploratory contacts, since "what has emerged is that we often found ourselves in a worse position at the end of each round than we were at the start." In diplomacy, Geraptritis adds, "only action can produce momentum."

Have you and your Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, been tasked with exploring whether the conditions exist to start discussing the delineation of the EEZ and the continental shelf? What does this exploratory process entail, what is the timeline and what is...