Meeting of Greek and Turkish brigadiers in Evros
Brigadier General Athanasios Fotinoglou, Commander of the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade "Rimini," welcomed his Turkish counterpart, Brigadier General Bülent Barış, Commander of the 9th Border Brigade from Edirne.
This visit is part of a series of bilateral contacts that resumed in November 2023, after nearly four years of hiatus due to the tension in Greek-Turkish relations. The aim of the CBMs is de-escalation, accident prevention, and the enhancement of military transparency through a series of planned actions and mutual visits.
The meeting in Evros follows a recent encounter held in Thessaloniki on April 28, chaired by Ambassador Harit Lalakou from the Greek side and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mehmet Kemal Bozay from the Turkish side. According to diplomatic sources, the atmosphere was positive, and both sides agreed that the next meeting would take place in Turkey.
The CBMs are one of three key pillars of the rapprochement process agreed upon at the Vilnius meeting between Prime Minister Mitsotakis and President Erdoğan in July 2023. The other two pillars are the Political Dialogue, led by Ambassador Alexandra Papadopoulou, and the Positive Agenda, managed by Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Hatzivassiliou, who will travel to Istanbul tomorrow. The aim of this three-tier framework is to build gradually functioning cooperative relations while acknowledging the deep differences between the two sides.
The format of the CBMs is based on a list created in 2010 and includes a wide range of issues, from low-level political matters such as the exchange of visits between military academies to critical deterrence arrangements during periods of tension. Amid geopolitical turmoil in the broader region, the restart of dialogue at the military level is seen as an effort to establish stability and reduce the risk of escalation in the Aegean and Evros.
The contacts at the brigade level also serve as a practical test of goodwill, emphasizing daily communication and building trust from the grassroots to the top. According to military sources, both sides maintain open lines at the local level, which is seen as a potential safeguard in case of a deterioration of the situation.
