EU Foreign Affairs Council

Greece will continue to fully support the maritime corridor offering aid to besieged Palestinians in Gaza, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Monday,  in a doorstep statement as he arrived for the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting on Monday.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is expected in Brussels Monday for an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting chaired by the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell.

Ministers will discuss Russia's war on Ukraine, the Sahel and coastal countries of West Africa, and more.

After the meeting, Dendias is scheduled to travel fo South Africa and Mozambique. [AMNA]

Bulgaria participated in the sitting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council that took place here on Tuesday. This country was represented by Ambassador Dimiter Tzantchev, Bulgaria's permanent representative to the EU.

The European Union has adopted a new sanctions framework, which makes it possible to blacklist all those whom Brussels suspects of human rights violations, denying them entry to the EU and freezing their assets. The framework will come into force on December 10. However, it does not contain any names yet, Russian daily Izvestia writes.

The head of Greek diplomacy attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council to talk about possible sanctions against Turkey

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is expected to present photographic material and videos from Thursday's collision between the Greek frigate Limnos and the Turkish vessel Kemal Reis in the Eastern Mediterranean at Friday's extraordinary EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Concerns that the standoff between Greek and Turkish fleets in the Eastern Mediterranean could lead to an accident were confirmed on Thursday, albeit not in a dramatic way, when two frigates collided.

More specifically, according to reports, there was a collision between the Limnos frigate and the Turkish vessel Kemal Reis, apparently due to a mistake by the latter's skipper. 

The escalating tensions between Greece and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean is "extremely worrying," European Commission foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said.

Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Tuesday said the country will not accept a fait accompli in the Eastern Mediterranean and called on the Turkish government to recall its survey ship from the area.

Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, the coronation pandemic, attracting investment and migration were the main issues discussed in a meeting between Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias with French counterpart Jean-Yves le Drian in Paris on Monday.

The two ministers also discussed the European perspective of the Western Balkans.