Introductory Intervention
Mr. Speaker, thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say that it is a great honour to be bringing this legislation before the Hellenic Parliament, on behalf of the Mitsotakis government.
As you know, it is the first expansion of national territory since 1947. This is an area of 10,079 square kilometres, and if one adds the closing of the bays, over 13,000 square kilometres.
If one considers, just to give you a sense of the size, that the whole country is about 135,000 square kilometres in area, one sees how large this area is.
And it is also of great significance that, as was clearly shown in the Committee, this legislation has the unanimous support of the political forces in the Hellenic Parliament.
Consequently, I think this is a historic moment, and, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the political parties warmly for their cooperation.
Thank you very much.
Second Intervention
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the floor. I don't usually break into the sequence of speakers, but my dear colleague said some things that it would be good to clarify, to keep the debate on track.
With regard to Crete, ladies and gentlemen, the Prime Minister has for months now taken a stance on the extension of territorial waters in Crete. And Crete naturally includes the eastern part of Crete. There is no doubt about this.
As for the alleged discrepancy between the Prime Minister’s statements on non-delimited zones and the Foreign Ministry’s statements on the continental shelf, I think these are two overlying levels of the same thing.
The country’s stance on the Greek continental shelf is set out in the Maniatis law. It is such regarding the exclusive economic zone, which overlies the specific continental shelf in the specific area. This is an actual fact. It has not been delimited via an agreement with one of the bordering countries, and I’m referring to Turkey.
Of course, I understand his interest in making this out to be a discrepancy. I understand it perfectly. We all understand it. But this doesn’t necessarily mean there is a discrepancy. I’ll make a final statement on this.
With regard to interpretation of the Prime Minister’s statements – an interpretation that suggests that the Prime Minister, the specific Prime Minister, would negotiate our territorial waters with Turkey – allow me to say that this is absurd. No Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic would ever negotiate the matter of territorial waters, because this is a matter of sovereignty and is not negotiable.
Of course, neighbouring countries understand the exercise of our rights. Italy knew this. We told Italy that we would be extending our territorial waters. This doesn't mean we negotiated with Italy. When criticised by the Albanian opposition, the Albanian Prime Minister, Mr. Rama, to his credit, clearly stated that this is our absolute right. Just as Albania has exercised its absolute right without asking us, and rightly so. If it did inform us, I’m not aware of it, because I wasn’t the competent Minister at the time.
Regarding the Berlin issue, which is actually part of the public debate, one is obviously referring to the telephone conversation between the diplomatic advisor to the Prime Minister and the Turkish President’s diplomatic advisor, Mr. Kalin. I want to say this, generally and across the board.
The diplomatic advisor to the Prime Minister is of course the diplomatic advisor to the Prime Minister. But she is also a diplomat. And in her capacity as a diplomat she is subordinate to the given Minister of Foreign Affairs. And it goes without saying that she does not exercise policy without the knowledge of the Foreign Minister.
And I have made a clear statement on this. A clear, albeit unnecessary, statement that I was aware. And why did I do this? Not to state the obvious, what any well-meaning person would understand without my having to say it. But precisely to underscore that, at critical moments, the misperception that there may be different perspectives or that things are being done without the knowledge of one side or the other, is catastrophic.
And here you will allow me, Mr. Speaker, perhaps taking advantage of your kindness or that of the Parliament, to say something that I ask all of the parties to commit to memory. A country – and this goes for the present government and, if I may, myself included – cannot exercise a policy that is different from the policy charted by the Prime Minister on foreign policy issues. This would be catastrophic for the country.
Consequently, it isn’t the case and it is also unthinkable. It is unthinkable.
Thank you very much for your patience.
January 19, 2021