‘Other external relations’ (3 %), includes tweets on EU-US relations, the Libyan situation, Turkish-European cooperation and forging stronger partnerships with China and Africa. Most tweets labelled as ‘Other external relations’ were issued by both Greek Prime Ministers, Alexis Tsipras (17 %) and Kyriakos Mitsotakis (12 %) and by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades (16 %), (see Figure 7). This comes as no surprise, as these EU leaders were the most vocal in relation to the violation of international law by Turkey and its illegal drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean during the period under examination. Tweets condemning Turkey’s actions were mainly issued during the June 2019 European Council meeting, at which discussions on the need to take measures were stressed by Alexis Tsipras in his tweet: ‘The European Council has sent a clear message to Turkey, unequivocally condemning its illegal actions in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)’. Other statements of consensus reached by EU leaders were conveyed in the context of the December 2019 European Council, when Nicos Anastasiades expressed ‘his full appreciation for the #EUCO conclusions on the collective response against Turkey’s illegal actions’ and Kyriakos Mitsotakis was satisfied to have received ‘support of all member states against Turkey’s provocation’ (Turkey’s non-compliance with the Law of the Sea).
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