A Turkish court yesterday ruled that two Greek soldiers charged with espionage and illegally entering the country would remain in jail, in defiance of European Union pressure for their release, reports said.

The pair were arrested on March 2 for entering a military zone in the northern Turkish province of Edirne, which borders Greece.

A local court in Edirne ruled after its latest hearing yesterday the two soldiers would remain behind bars, the private Dogan news agency reported, without providing any details.

The Turkish lawyers of the two men had asked for their release.

The judgement was announced after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came under pressure from EU chiefs at a meeting in Bulgaria late Monday to release the pair.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said the bloc's 28 member states had confidence in the Turkish side "to solve that (the issue of the soldiers) in the best way".