Greek Foreign Minister To Discuss Mediterranean Tensions With US State Secretary On Friday

Greek Foreign Minister to Discuss Mediterranean Tensions With US State Secretary on Friday

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will have a meeting with US State Secretary Mike Pompeo on Friday to discuss the escalation of tensions with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a press release

ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2020) Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will have a meeting with US State Secretary Mike Pompeo on Friday to discuss the escalation of tensions with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

Pompeo is on a working tour in Central and Eastern Europe from August 11-15. He is expected to visit the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria and Poland.

"The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, will meet with the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Michael R. Pompeo, on Friday, 14 August, in Vienna. Their talks will focus on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean in light of Turkey's escalating violations of international legality," the press release read.

Tensions escalated between Greece and Turkey around the latter's seismic drilling in the parts of the Eastern Mediterranean, which Athens considers to be its exclusive economic zone.

As Ankara consistently ignored requests to leave the disputed waters and scaled up its presence instead, Greece mobilized its armed forces to high alert and declared a readiness to protect its sovereign rights by all means, including militarily.

Greece has also requested an extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, scheduled to take place on Friday, to discuss Turkey's intrusion in the Mediterranean.