According to the agency, the EU intends to “intimidate Turkey with retaliation” if Ankara continues drilling and other provocations in the waters of Cyprus and Greece.
The EU promises Cyprus restrictive measures against Turkey in the future if Nicosia agrees to change its position and approve sanctions against Belarus. This was reported by Reuters on Thursday, citing a senior EU diplomat.
“The idea is to scare Turkey into retaliation if it continues drilling and other provocations in the waters of Cyprus and Greece. This means giving Cyprus guarantees and convincing Nicosia to lift its veto on sanctions against Belarus”, – the agency quotes the diplomat as saying.
For his part, an employee of the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said that Cyprus intends to maintain its current position on this issue. “In order to approve the document on Belarus, we need to reach agreement on our proposals. I believe that there will be a long discussion in the EU Council. I don’t rule out that it might work out, but I wouldn’t bet on it now,” the agency quotes the diplomat as saying.
In September, the foreign ministers of the 27 EU member states could not agree on a sanctions list of Belarusian officials, because the EU states did not reach a unanimous decision because of the position of Cyprus, which demands sanctions against Turkey because of its actions in the Mediterranean Sea.