ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s conservative government has presented parliament with a bill to extend the western limit of its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles, after negotiations with its regional neighbors Italy and Albania.
The project, presented on Friday night, would extend its western territorial waters by six nautical miles today. It would not affect the waters of the Aegean Sea, off the south and east coasts of Greece, where Athens is in dispute with its NATO ally, Turkey, 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 not yet reached an agreement on all details of their maritime borders and have referred the matter to the International Court of Justice.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in Athens on Friday.
“This bill confirms Greece’s strategy of seeking agreements with neighboring countries, always based on international law and promoting security and prosperity in the region,” said Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Saturday.
In the bill, due to be voted on later this month, Greece says that, according to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it maintains the right to exercise its rights in other parts of its territory.
Dendias said that this was a historic moment for Greece.
In eastern Greece, Turkey warned that a similar move by Athens would be a “casus belli”, or cause of war.
Tensions have increased since last year over energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The two countries agreed a few months ago to resume exploratory negotiations on maritime disputes in the area after a four-year hiatus, but no date has been set. Hopes have been reborn for a fresh start this year.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Ros Russell and Jan Harvey)