ATHENS: Greece plans to extend the western limit of its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 miles, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday, amid tensions with Turkey over Mediterranean energy resources to the east of Greece.
The conservative premier said that Italy and Albania had been officially informed about Greece’s plans and a bill on the matter would be submitted to parliament very soon.
“Greece will extend its western territorial waters to 12 nautical miles from six,” Mitsotakis told lawmakers during a debate on whether to approve a recent accord on maritime boundaries between Greece and Italy.
The two countries signed an agreement on maritime boundaries in June, establishing an exclusive economic zone and resolving longstanding issues over fishing rights in the Ionian Sea.
A separate maritime agreement with Egypt, a step Turkey said infringed on its continental shelf, is also under debate in the Greek parliament and lawmakers are expected to vote on both agreements on Thursday.
Mitsotakis said the accords were based on the principles of international law and the Law of the Sea.
He added that Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias would soon visit Tirana to discuss with his counterpart a maritime agreement with Albania.
The planned measure does not affect the Aegean region, off Greece’s eastern and southern coasts.
To the east of Greece, Turkey has warned that a similar move by Athens would be a “casus belli”, or cause for war. The two countries are in dispute over the extent of their continental shelves and their maritime boundaries.
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