Droutsas on Turkey, FYROM

    The decision for the commencement of accession negotiations with FYROM belongs to all the EU member states, and consequently Greece as well, and one thing is certain: a prerequisite for the opening of accession talks is prior solution of the name issue, alternate foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas explained in an interview with journalist Michael Martins in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

    On Greek prime minister and foreign minister George Papandreou's recent discussion with FYROM premier Nikola Gruevski, during a trilateral meeting organised by Papandreou on conservation of the Prespes Lakes ecosystem, Droutsas said that it was an important step that such contacts are taking place again after so many years during which formal meetings were avoided.

    As for Turkey's EU accession course, Droutsas reiterated the Greek position that: "We fully back Turkey's accession to the EU. However, as a candidate country, Turkey has obligations to the EU and the Union's member states. These include the obligation of maintaining good relations with its neighbors. This also means implementation of the Ankara Protocol, and consequently the extension of the Customs Union with all the EU member states, including the Republic of Cyprus. Turkey is obliged to accept Cypriot ships and airplanes at its ports and airports."

    On the new PASOK government's foreign policy, Droutsas said the government is following a dynamic foreign policy that will be characterised by initiatives, not just reactions.

    To a comment by Martins that Papandreou's meeting in Istanbul with Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan (during the Southeast European Cooperation Process-SEECP- foreign ministers' meeting in October) and his visit to the grave of Turkish former foreign minister Ismail Cem (Papandreou and Cem were foreign ministers concurrently in their countries in the late '90s) had created an affinity in the Turkish people towards Papandreou, but that, beyond the symbolism, certain issues remained between Athens and Ankara that required clarification, and particularly that of the delimitation of the Aegean continental shelf, Droutsas replied: "This is a purely legal matter, which should have been resolved by the authoritative international body set up by the United Nations, namely the International Court of Justice at The Hague".