Dendias points out that Greece “reserves the right to expand its waters at any time and place”
MADRID, 20 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Parliament of Greece has debated on Tuesday a proposal that aims to expand the Greek coastal zone in the area of the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands, an action that could potentially irritate Turkey just days after the start, after five years, of a new round of exploratory talks on territorial claims in the Mediterranean Sea.
The bill has been presented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it proposes to extend the coastal zone to 12 nautical miles, in the maritime zone of the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands to Cape Ténaro, in the Peloponnese.
As detailed by the head of the Foreign Ministry, Nikos Dendias, this expansion – the first since 1947 – would increase the sovereign territory of Greece by 13,000 square kilometers.
As it is a change in the country’s borders, Parliament needs to approve the proposal by an absolute majority, a vote that will take place this Wednesday but is expected to be favorable to the Government. Only the Greek Communist Party, in principle, will not vote in favor.
“This legislation is accompanied by the unanimous support of the political forces of the National Parliament”, highlighted Dendias, as reported by the local newspaper ‘Tanea’, which in turn has stressed that “the moment has an element of historicity” and has grateful to the parties for “cooperation”.
Dendias added that the next step will be the expansion of the coast to the south of Crete and, in fact, the relevant studies are in the preparation phase. In this sense, Greece “reserves the right to expand its territorial waters anywhere and at any time,” Dendias has warned, according to the AMNA news agency.
The proposal is framed in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1994, although it could suppose a new round of tensions between Athens and Ankara, since the latter pointed out that if such an expansion took place it would be a reason to declare war.
In addition, this debate and the next vote this Wednesday, are given just five days after the beginning, for the first time since 2016, the exploratory talks on territorial claims in the Mediterranean Sea.
Greece and Turkey have been at odds for decades over natural gas reserves and maritime borders, as both nations claim the right to prospect and drill in the same part of the eastern Mediterranean.
Despite the imminent start of the talks, something that has been seen with good eyes by the international community, Dendias explained in Parliament on Tuesday that Athens has always been willing to talk when they see “a definitive cessation of provocative actions. on the Greek continental shelf and the departure of the research vessel Oruc Reis from the area “.
He also stressed that, in these new talks, it is “imperative” that Turkey pursue a “stable and reassuring decrease in tensions.”
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