Xinhua News Agency, Brussels, October 2 (International Observation) Can the European Union resolve disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean with both soft and hard work?

  Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Jizhi Yu Shuaishuai Zhang Baoping

  The EU Special Summit was held in Brussels from October 1st to 2nd. The leaders of 27 countries focused on issues such as the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

At the summit, EU leaders put forward a "two-handed" strategy to urge Turkey to stop unilateral actions and start constructive dialogue with Greece and Cyprus as soon as possible.

However, the Turkish side's response was mediocre, and it remains to be seen whether the dialogue can proceed as expected by the EU.

 EU offers both soft and hard hands

  The leaders at the meeting stated in the meeting outcome document on EU foreign relations released in the early morning of the 2nd that the development of mutually beneficial cooperation with Turkey is in the EU's strategic interests.

However, Turkey must have a sincere dialogue and stop unilateral actions that harm the interests of the EU and violate international law.

The Council of Europe reiterated that the sovereignty of Greece and Cyprus as EU member states must be respected.

  In order to promote active dialogue between Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, the EU countries finalized a set of "soft and hard" plans at the summit: If the dialogue is active and effective, the European Council is willing to initiate the EU-Turkey political agenda and establish a modern customs union with it to promote Trade facilitation and personnel exchanges, strengthen high-level dialogue, and continue cooperation on immigration issues.

However, if Turkey again initiates a provocation that violates international law, the EU will use existing policy tools to impose sanctions on Turkey and defend the interests of the EU and its member states.

  The President of the European Commission von der Lein called the above scheme two "tool boxes".

She said the EU tends to use the constructive one.

  Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu, who is visiting Italy, said on the 2nd that the EU's position is to please Greece and the sanctions warning against Turkey is "contradictory."

 New hot spots of geo-competition

  Turkey has deep grievances with Cyprus and Greece. The fuse of the recent tense relationship is the escalation of the dispute over natural gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean.

  In November last year, Turkey and the Libyan Government of National Unity signed a memorandum of understanding on "maritime jurisdiction" in the Mediterranean, seeking to obtain a larger exclusive economic zone in the eastern Mediterranean, but it was strongly opposed by Greece, Cyprus and Egypt.

Earlier this year, Greece, Cyprus and Israel signed an agreement to lay a natural gas pipeline in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In August, Greece and Egypt signed a maritime boundary agreement, and the two sides announced that they would establish a maritime exclusive economic zone.

Turkey stated that the area covered by the agreement is within the Turkish continental shelf.

Since then, Turkey has restarted natural gas exploration activities in the disputed waters of the eastern Mediterranean, which aroused opposition from Greece and Cyprus.

Allies of the two sides conducted joint military exercises, and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean was tense.

  The Greek "Daily" believes that the current relationship between Greece and Turkey is at the most critical moment in the past 20 years.

The EU’s high representative for foreign and security policy Borelli described the EU’s relations with Turkey as facing a “watershed”.

  However, under the mediation of all parties, there have been some positive signs in Turkey-Greek relations recently.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense stated on October 1 that Turkey and Greece reached a consensus on "general principles" on the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean at the military delegation meeting held at NATO headquarters.

NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said on the same day that Greece and Turkey have established mechanisms to avoid accidental conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean as part of efforts to resolve energy disputes in the region.

  At this EU summit, the EU welcomed Greece and Turkey’s recent move to establish mutual trust and supported the resumption of exploratory talks aimed at delimiting the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone of the two countries.

However, the summit strongly condemned Turkey's violation of the sovereignty of Cyprus and called for the settlement of the maritime dispute between Turkey and Cyprus through dialogue.

  Michelle Leigh, a senior researcher at the Bruegel Institute, a European think tank, said that the EU can only see convincing opportunities for both opposing parties for mediation work to be effective.

If you blindly apply strong pressure, it may push Turkey to the opposite of the EU and fuel the nationalist trend in Turkey.

  Murat Yeshirta, a researcher at the Turkish Political, Economic and Social Research Foundation, believes that the development of the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean will continue to be an extension of the geopolitical competition in the Middle East.

Countries such as Egypt and Israel have also joined this competition.

In the future, the Eastern Mediterranean region will become an arena for geopolitical, geoeconomic and military tensions.

(Participating reporter: Zheng Siyuan)