ATHENS (Reuters) – The Conservative government of Greece has submitted a bill to parliament to extend the western border of its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles after negotiations with its regional neighbors Italy and Albania.
The bill, which was tabled late Friday, will currently expand its six-mile western territorial waters. It will have no effect on the waters of the Aegean Sea, off the southern and eastern coasts of Greece, where Athens and its NATO ally Turkey have fought over maritime borders.
Greece and Italy have already signed an agreement on maritime borders establishing an exclusive economic zone in the Ionian Sea, while Athens and Tirana have yet to agree on all the details of their maritime border and the issue to the International Court of Justice referred.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in Athens on Friday.
“This draft legislation confirms Greece’s strategy to seek agreements with neighboring countries, which is always based on international law and the promotion of security and prosperity in the region,” Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Saturday.
In the bill, which is expected to be voted on later this month, Greece says it reserves the right to exercise its rights in other parts of its territory under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Dendias said it was a historic moment for Greece.
To the east of Greece, Turkey warned that a similar move by Athens would be a ‘casus belli’, or a cause of war.
Tensions have risen since last year over energy sources in the eastern Mediterranean.
The two countries agreed a few months ago to resume investigation into resuming maritime claims in the area after a four-year hiatus, but no date has been set. The hope started again this year.
(Reported by Renee Maltezou; edited by Ros Russell and Jan Harvey)