Greece retains right to extend territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, Mitsotakis says

Stay connected to Greek City Times for Free on Google News
Click NOW

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Saturday that Greece “retains the inalienable right” to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles “whenever and however it deems fit.”

Speaking at a press conference on the second day of the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair, Mitsotakis said he would “never enter into a discussion about issues that Turkey raises and are non-issues for the Greek state.” He reiterated that the only matters Athens is prepared to discuss with Ankara are the delimitation of maritime zones in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.

He also pointed to recent Greek foreign-policy moves he said previous governments had not pursued, including maritime spatial planning, marine parks, seabed surveying, and a stronger deterrent capability.

On rearmament, Mitsotakis said Greece would continue dialogue on bilateral issues but would not “ask anyone’s permission on how we will arm ourselves.”

Asked about a timetable for resuming work on the planned Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection (GSI), he said it was “a matter of a few months.” Previous seabed surveys by foreign-flagged research vessels have been interrupted by Turkish warships, most recently east of Kasos and Karpathos.

“Turkey has no legitimate reasons to block the project. I believe it will not do so. We are also in consultation with France to address all eventualities,” he said. “I consider it a positive development for a French group to invest.”

This story has been updated.

Stay updated with the latest news from Greece and around the world on greekcitytimes.com.
Contact our newsroom to share your updates, stories, photos, or videos. Follow GCT on Google News and Apple News.