Law of the sea

A debate in Parliament on a Foreign Ministry bill extending Greece's territorial waters in the Ionian Sea was granted an additional day, with the vote now expected on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

According to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, the discussion was extended to two days from one to give lawmakers wishing to present their position on the issue ample time to do so.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated his country's position that Greece has a right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, adding however that in cases of overlapping interests, the two sides have to find a solution through dialogue.

Greece is legally bound by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and EU law - the bloc has signed and ratified UNCLOS - in any talks with Turkey on the delimitation of maritime zones, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Friday.

Greece is at a very important juncture in its foreign policy, during which much will be decided.

The debates in Parliament on the procurement of French fighter jets and on the extension of the country's territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles will be a test, and a very important one.

The draft bill extending Greece's western territorial waters to 12 nautical miles had its first reading at the committee level in Parliament on Tuesday.

Greece has received no invitation from Turkey to resume exploratory talks, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexandros Papaioannou said on Monday.

New government spokesman Christos Tarantilis on Monday hailed the tabling of a new bill foreseeing the extension of the western limit of Greece's territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles as a "historic decision."

Greece's conservative government has submitted a bill to parliament to extend the western limit of its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles, following negotiations with its regional neighbors Italy and Albania.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Saturday hailed a new bill that will extend Greece's western maritime boundaries to 12 miles offshore from six.

A bill that extends Greece's territorial waters to 12 miles from the current 6 on the western part of the country only has been tabled in Parliament.

The parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense will begin debate on the bill on Tuesday, January 12; a second reading will take place on Jan. 15 and the plenary session will take up the bill on Jan. 19.