Athens to invoke EU solidarity clause

As tensions with Turkey mount in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece is reportedly seeking ways to activate a mutual assistance clause of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty in a bid to secure its borders.

More specifically, Athens is calling on Brussels to interpret paragraph 7 of article 42 in the treaty so as to make it clear that Greece's sea borders are also the borders of the European Union.

The paragraph stipulates that an EU country can ask for the help of the other 26 member states if it comes under attack.

"The Union and its Member States shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a Member State is the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster. The Union shall mobilize all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources made available by the Member States," the clause says.

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