Carefully planned response

Turkey is testing our patience and red lines. Every Greek is naturally deeply upset at the sight of a Turkish seismic survey vessel navigating a provocative course under the escort of several Turkish Navy units, all part of a well-staged show.

Greece's reaction must be decisive, but also carefully studied. At times like these, it would be ill-advised to seek comfort in urban legends about how we supposedly "slashed the cables back in 2018." Sure, a deterrence operation was carried out, but no cables were cut.

The plan originally was that Greece would seal a maritime boundaries agreement with Egypt and, at the same time, sign a mutual defense pact with France along with a deal to purchase two French frigates. It would then make sense to expect that in the event of circumstances like those we are facing at the moment Paris would make a decision to dispatch naval forces...