Greece: We will follow EU acquis on the expansion of our territorial waters
Related Articles
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece Nikos Dendias addressed today the maritime border issues, by stating that every decision that Greece will take, will be according to the rules of the European Union. In his speech at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the parliament, while it was being discussed the expansion of the Greek territorial waters in the Ionian Sea, Dendias said that “the International Convention of the Law of the Sea is part of our national law but it is also part of the EU acquis. In any discussion with a third country outside the EU, Greece is bound by the EU acquis,” declared Dendias, adding that “this is self-evident. This may not be completely understandable to some outside the room. This concept binds the EU and its states when negotiating with third countries.”
To make more clear the case, Dendias took the example of the Convention on Human Rights: “the Convention on Human Rights is a European acquis. Can you imagine an EU country, say France, negotiating with a non-EU third country and amending this Convention or saying that it is not valid?” said the Minister.
Greece is currently discussing its territorial waters with many neighbours, including Albania and Turkey. While Albania and Greece, have agreed to refer their dispute over maritime borders to the International Court of Justice, the case is more complicated with Turkey, since the two countries have seen a rise of the tensions on this issue. Turkey and Greece agreed earlier this week to resume the 61st Round of Exploratory talks on the 25th of January in Istanbul, where in focus will be the dispute over the territorial waters.
