Greece and Turkey sign 15 deals during ‘groundbreaking’ Erdoğan visit to Athens – as it happened | Europe

Pundits are of a mind that today’s visit to Greece by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been even more successful than envisaged.

The 69-year-old leader was on his best behaviour; he crossed no ‘red lines’, flouted no diplomatic niceties and, given his well-known penchant for the steely glare, more than once, allowed himself to smile.

“There was nothing unexpected because as we all know he is unpredictable,” said Greek political economist Loukas Tsoukalis addressing a panel discussion on the public broadcaster ERT. “It was quite possibly better than expected,” added the Athens University emeritus professor, a long-time advocate of rapprochement.

Greek officials say it had been in Erdoğan’s gift to give the talks a positive tone. And from the get-go the leader appeared determined to do that, accentuating the two countries’ mutual interests, the headway they had made on albeit secondary issues and the positive agenda they shared.

“I believe it will be better for the future of both sides to see the glass half full,” the Turkish leader told Greece’s head of state, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, in his first meeting of the day.

It had not been entirely certain if the 10-point declaration on good neighbourly relations, reached “in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation” would be signed in Athens.

Erdoğan had said prior to flying in that he hoped it would be inked. The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who belongs to the liberal strand of his centre-right New Democracy party, was also keen.

Like Eleftherios Venizelos, his great uncle who oversaw détente with Turkey in the 1930s and is widely regarded as the country’s landmark 20th-century statesman, Mitsotakis wants rapprochement dearly if only because it will be good for the economy.

Talks between the two overran possibly because both men were eager to get the declaration out. Photographers called in as the discussions were about to wrap up snapped the leaders sitting next to each other on a sofa in Mitsotakis’ office reading through the document.

The accord is all about cementing friendship whatever the challenges “current or future”.

Mindful of the array of times the two neighbours have almost gone to war – most recently in the summer of 2020 over offshore energy reserves in the Aegean – the declaration recalled: “that among the fundamental objectives of the Charter of the United Nations and the universally acknowledged principles of international law are the maintenance of international peace and friendly co-operation among states.”

The countries resolved “any dispute” would be settled “by peaceful means and in accordance with international law” and underlined the importance of communication channels “at every level” to avert any crisis building up.

On both sides diplomats readily accept this is only the start.

The hope is today’s talks, and declaration of peace, will provide the basis on which serious differences – war-divided Cyprus, airspace in the Aegean, the continental shelf to name but a few – can be discussed, in a non-confrontational manner, going forward.

Updated at 11.04 EST

Members of the European parliament plan to discuss the situation in Slovakia next week.

The country’s populist new prime minister, Robert Fico, has been accused of promoting a “poisonous” plan to undercut prosecutors working on sensitive corruption cases.

Fico, a controversial figure known for railing against independent media and criticising military aid to Ukraine, has announced plans to scrap the special prosecutor’s office, an institution that deals with cases of high-level corruption and organised crime.

Read more here.

Updated at 10.22 EST

Spain’s deputy prime minister, Nadia Calviño, is likely to be the next president of the European Investment Bank, one of the most important jobs in the EU, it has emerged.

Despite a late decision by Italy to back Denmark’s Margrethe Vestager, who left her job as a European commissioner to join the contest, Calviño remains the favourite in the impending selection involving votes by each member state, diplomats say.

The role will be discussed by finance ministers who are meeting in Brussels tomorrow. “It looks quite good for her, she is the front runner,” said one diplomat.

“Italy alone will not be able to blow this up,” they added.

Either way it will mean that three of the top four international banking jobs will be held by woman with the European Central Bank headed by Christine Lagarde and Kristalina Georgieva in situ as managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Updated at 10.52 EST

The visit to Athens by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, signals the latest move of Turkish efforts at diplomacy that have seen Ankara rapidly reestablish relations with former foes across the region, including a lucrative rapprochement with the United Arab Emirates and newfound friendly relations with Saudi Arabia, amid efforts to rapidly forget the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.

The Turkish president has even met with Egyptian president, Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, after saying he would never talk to “someone like him”.

“If you look back at the past two years, a lot of these shifts are about efforts to ease the tensions that Turkey found itself in, it’s not sustainable economically, diplomatically or politically and it’s limiting for Turkey,” said Ziya Meral, a lecturer on diplomacy at Soas.

This trip is an expression of that easing, as the last thing that Europe or Nato needs is an escalation between two members over crucial sea routes, trade or energy. For the European Union, having Greece or Turkey working together on issues like crime, narcotics, and security is a good thing, as these are key areas.

Erdoğan’s visit to the Greek capital could provide a crucial signal to Washington, amid pushback over a potential $20bn (£15.9m) sale of F16 fighter jets to Ankara, held up by lawmakers who expressed concerns about Turkish overflights of Greek airspace as well as Turkey’s human rights record.

“By easing relations with Greece, this understanding could give way to a breakthrough in certain areas where particular congresspeople or senators leaning towards Greek interests might alter their status, which could lead to some positive outcomes in terms of Turkish interests in Washington,” said Meral.

While Erdoğan promised the dawn of a “new era,” on landing in Athens and efforts to double the two countries’ trade volume to $10bn, observers said his visit appears unlikely to heal deeper rifts over decades-long issues including the status of Cyprus or border disputes. Even so, his talks with Greek counterpart, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, signalled a willingness to tackle some challenges together, particularly energy exploration in the Mediterranean or trade.

“While this visit is a welcome move, would it achieve a breakthrough on issues at a dead end, like Cyprus or the status of Aegean islands, I don’t think this is a magical solution for any of these problems. But if trust is reestablished and there’s a good rapport between leaders and wanting to trade more, it’s quite a good achievement – and it means one less conflict to watch,” said Meral.

Updated at 06.56 EST