By Martin Hellicar
THE GOVERNMENT yesterday rushed to put a lid on speculation that Greece was getting cold feet over the joint defence pact with Cyprus.
On Monday, Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said the S-300 missiles were an issue which concerned Nicosia alone. Greece offered only advice on the controversial missile order, Pangalos said, inviting a flurry of media speculation that Athens was abandoning Nicosia to deal alone with international pressure to cancel the deal.
Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides was adamant yesterday that Pangalos’ statements were nothing to worry about.
“There has been no overturning, at any point, of the essence of the common strategic course of Greece and Cyprus,” he said.
Stylianides said the Greek Foreign Minister’s remarks were intended as a show of support for Nicosia’s right to buy the missiles. “It was a message to all that they must respect the statehood and sovereign rights of Cyprus.”
“Mr Pangalos was again specific and clear concerning Greek support for the choices made by the Cyprus government,” Stylianides said.
“For certain peripheral technical issues, joint decision making is not valid because every government is independent,” he told his daily press briefing.
“Are the S-300 missiles a peripheral issue, then?” a journalist countered.
“On issues of essence there is joint decision-making,” Stylianides replied.
Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou also sought to dismiss suggestions that Athens was distancing itself from Nicosia. The Common Defence Dogma military pact was alive and kicking, he said.
But opposition party leaders did not see it that way.
“I only hope Mr Pangalos’ statements have been reported inaccurately,” Diko leader and House President Spyros Kyprianou told a news conference.
He said the Greek Foreign Minister’s statements proved that Nicosia and Athens did not quite see eye to eye on foreign policy issues.
The Greek government should clarify its position on this issue, because contradictory statements from Athens and Nicosia gave the “wrong messages” to the watching world, Kyprianou said.
Akel spokesman Andreas Christou agreed that the Greek position could do with some clarification.
“It would appear there are varying opinions within the Greek government and Pangalos saying the missiles have nothing to do with the dogma is indicative of this,” he said.
There were too many “grey areas” in the defence pact agreement, he added.
In Athens later in the day, Greek government spokesman Dimitris Repas said decisions concerning Cyprus were always taken jointly by the two governments. The Dogma still stands, he added.
The deal to buy S-300s from Russia is expected to be top of the agenda when President Clerides meets Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis in Athens tomorrow.
Turkey has threatened to destroy the missiles if they are deployed. The US and EU have repeatedly called for the deal to be shelved. The government remains adamant that the ground-to-air missiles will arrive, but has put back delivery until October-November.
