Conservative former prime minister Kostas Karamanlis on Tuesday mildly berated the government over its foreign policy towards Turkey, saying the strategy of keeping things calm may not have been effective.
Speaking at a book presentation in Athens, Karamanlis said Turkey’s reported plan to pass legislation encapsulating its maritime demands in the Aegean Sea is a “very serious” issue.
He argued that the bill would grant an official cloak to Ankara’s demands “and will bind all [future] Turkish governments.”
“We should be concerned about the effectiveness of the ‘calm waters’ policy” pursued by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ conservative government, he added.
He also expressed oblique displeasure over the phone spyware scandal that targeted politicians, journalists, businessmen and officials, saying “illegal or nominally legitimate” wiretaps go against democratic norms.
