French FM visits Greece, meets counterpart Nikos Dendias

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna visited Athens on Tuesday, where she met her Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias. Colonna said France would continue to be "by Greece's side" amid increasing tension between regional rivals Turkey and Greece.

"The (Mediterranean) region does not need tension, it needs pacification and respect for international law," she said.

Turkey and Greece have decades-old disputes over an array of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and disagreements over the airspace there. Frictions worsened on Tuesday as Turkey's president doubled down on a thinly veiled invasion threat and Athens responded by saying it was ready to defend its sovereignty. The friction between the neighbours has brought the NATO allies to the brink of war three times in the last half-century.