Greece-Turkey Pacification, Iran-Bulgaria Ties Positive News for Brussels?

Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean made headlines on Tuesday, with seemingly positive developments in relations between Greece and Turkey, and spotlights once more on Bulgaria. 

Indeed, on Tuesday, Sofia was lauded by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu and Greece’s Nikos Kotzias made conciliatory remarks, which could positively impact on Cyprus, too. 

“We discussed security measures that could be taken to avoid unwanted results from military activity in the Aegean, and agreed on a series of measures to increase security in the sea," Çavuşoğlu said during a joint press conference in Ankara.

Apart from longstanding border disputes, the two countries have also different positions on the Cyprus issue. The thaw in ties came along with developments in the Mediterranean island. 

“Yesterday’s meeting took place in a very positive climate… It was a sincere and open dialogue. It is important that the resumption of the talks on Friday was agreed. The first meeting will mainly deal with structural and procedural issues” Cyprus’ Government Spokesman Nikos Christodoulides commented in a note released on Tuesday.  

IRAN - BULGARIA

While Spain’s Foreign Minister Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil was meeting his Bulgarian counterpart to increase bilateral cooperation, Iran’s Rouhani said that Bulgaria can be a bridge between Iran and Europe.

‘President Rouhani said Bulgaria enjoys an excellent geographical location in southeast of Europe, adding it can make a link between Iran and the European states in case of energy’ Rouhani’s office wrote on Tuesday, after his meeting with the new Bulgarian ambassador Tehran Christo Polendakov.