Turkey escapes sanctions, Germany and Italy say they are unprepared

The European Union Foreign Affairs Council closed without taking any action against Turkey for violating United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding the occupied Cypriot city of Varosha.

Turkey once again escaped sanctions, this time because Germany offered the excuse that it did not manage to study the document relating to the matter.

According to Philenews, during the discussion, the German Foreign Minister stated that the "options paper" had been released only last week when the new German government took office.

He said that more time is needed to study the document, as well as the implications of the decisions that will be taken.

Italy agreed with Germany's approach, while the Netherlands expressed general reservations about the possibility of taking any decisions.

EU High Representative Josep Borrell, introducing the issue of Turkey's illegal actions in Varosha, stressed the need for decisions because the issue has been on the agenda for a long time.

Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis also agreed with Borrell's position, pointing out that any failure to make decisions would jeopardise the credibility of the EU itself.

According to Capital, the general approach of the High Representative and Nicosia regarding the need to take specific decisions was supported by Ireland, Greece, France, Belgium, Estonia, Austria, Malta and Luxembourg.

In particular, Ireland, Austria, France, Greece and Luxembourg expressed the view that this approach is perfectly reasonable and justified, as otherwise we will send, among other things, wrong messages to Turkey.

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