The EEZ of Greece was the focus of an event held yesterday at the ESSEA by the Institute for Social Democracy – InSocial, on “EEZ, Foreign Policy & Developments in the Middle East”.

During the event, moderated by journalist Alphonsos Vitalis, the common conclusion was that Greece needed to pursue a more aggressive policy about the EEZ to protect its interests against Turkish provocations.

“The Greek government must decide to make the demarcation with the six bordering states, otherwise the Turkish provocations will continue,” Tiodoros Karyotis, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy – University of Maryland, USA, noted in his taped statement.

Karyotis, who has been working on the EEZ issue for 42 years, also said that the “Blue Homeland” invoked by Turkey has nothing to do with the Law of the Sea. The Law of the Sea explicitly states that islands have an EEZ. “The EEZ of Greece is the EEZ of the European Union”, Karyotis concluded.

The islands are entitled to an EEZ

A special reference to Law 4001/2011, which stipulates that the islands are entitled to an EEZ, which Turkey does not accept, was made by Giannis Maniatis, Professor, former Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Member of the European Parliament – Vice President of the Socialists & Democrats.

“We are not Greeks claiming the EEZ” Maniatis said emphatically, “we are followers of international law”. The professor and MEP of PASOK, after presenting a series of data and information on the points of intense energy interest within the already delineated Greek EEZ, noted that all Mediterranean countries except Greece have drilled wells. He also stressed that “Turkey publishes maps, while we dare not do so” and noted meaningfully that “even the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum fully recognizes the so far delimited EEZ of our country. So we ought to complete it”, he concluded.

Middle East concerns after Trump’s election

Dimitris Kourkoulas, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, former EU Ambassador to the EU,

The new landscape in the region following the developments in the Middle East, but also the election of President Trump in the US, was mentioned by Dimitris Kourkoulas, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, former EU Ambassador

“It is in my humble opinion very likely that the new concept of international relations espoused by the US President will not only not contribute to the stabilization of the Middle East, but on the contrary will exacerbate instability,” he noted: “I believe there is a fundamental ideological incompatibility between Trump’s beliefs and the ideological core of the EU.

The EU is based on the doctrine that cooperation between states and peoples is preferable to confrontation and that transnational relations are not a zero-sum game. The EU promotes cooperation not only for ethical reasons but also because it believes, and has proven in practice, that everyone wins with cooperation. This is exactly what Trump’s ideology challenges and this is why I believe, or rather fear, that it will be very difficult to find common ground with Washington.”

The Palestine problem is an international, not a bilateral problem

A special reference to the Palestinian issue was made by Vivi Kefalah, Professor of International Relations in the Greater Middle East and North Africa, Director of the Center for Middle East Policy Analysis (CEAMEP). Ms. Kefalah analyzed the issue from its roots, stressing that the Palestinian issue is an international and not a bilateral problem, and said that developments in the region, with the policies pursued by Israel and after the installation of the new American President, created several problems.

He said that the already accumulated internal problems in the Arab countries will intensify and there is a risk of a new civil war in Lebanon, a split and strengthening of the jihadists in Syria, and greater regional instability.

He particularly emphasized the issue of refugee flows following the New Riviera (Palestinians) and noted that “the complete violation of international law with the forced evacuation of Gaza sets a dangerous precedent for other countries as well.”

Present at the event were, among others, PASOK’s parliamentary representative and Foreign Affairs Minister Dimitris Mantzos and the deputy secretaries of the Defence Sector Takis Moscholios and Thomas Hatziathanasiou