Vassilis Nedos

Greece has decided to deploy two Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Karpathos island to signal that the withdrawal of Patriot missile batteries from the Aegean outpost does not represent a concession to Turkish pressure.

Armed Turkish fighter jets resumed violations of Greek national airspace, and one incident led to a mock dogfight between two Greek F-16s and two Turkish F-16s in the area between the islands of Lemnos and Lesvos, according to Greek officials.

Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis warned from an informal meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Cyprus on Thursday that Athens will not accept “any form” of Turkish revisionism, as political and media tensions between the two countries intensified over maritime jurisdiction disputes and military activity in the Aegean.

Helsinki supports decision-making on certain EU foreign policy issues by qualified majority voting (i.e. 80% of member-states), Finland Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Kathimerini in an interview during her visit to Athens this week.

Athens is examining a range of legal and practical responses to a Turkish bill reportedly being prepared by the ruling AKP party to advance Ankara’s claims in the Aegean Sea through the doctrine known as the “Blue Homeland.”

Greece has formally confirmed that it lodged two diplomatic demarches with Ukraine over the activity of a Ukrainian naval drone in the Ionian Sea, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Lana Zochiou.

Turkey has expanded the international reach of its defense industry through a series of agreements focused on the joint development and production of military systems with partners in Europe, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Asia.

Greece's armed forces will test unmanned systems developed by domestic companies during the national joint-service exercise “Doureios Ippos (Trojan Horse) 2026,” scheduled for June 8-11 in Thrace and across parts of the Peloponnese and Ionian Sea region, with operations centered at Andravida Air Base.

Greece's deputy foreign minister, Alexandra Papadopoulou, traveled to Tripoli on Tuesday to maintain close contacts with Libya's Government of National Unity, despite limited expectations for substantial progress on maritime boundary talks.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his Greek counterpart George Gerapetritis that Ankara intends to proceed with legislation on Turkey’s maritime zones, a proposal known as the “Blue Homeland” bill, during talks on the sidelines of the SEECP Summit in Sofia.