Thursday, 28 April 2011

I fail to understand the purpose of the question [asked by an opposition MP] "if Israel guarantees it will protect Greece, should we declare our rights on the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)". The rights on the EEZ are stemming from the Convention on the Law of the Sea, from the 1982Montego Bay Convention. We have said in Parliament that while the Continental Shelf exists by itself, ab initio and ipso jure according to International Law, a country's jurisdiction on the EEZ [on the other hand] must be declared.

Greece has repeatedly said -the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister have said so themselves and I have said it many times over- that Greece maintains her rights on the EEZ intact and that it exercises military oversight where necessary, as has recently been the case with the Italian vessel "Explora" and as I have had the opportunity to explain to [the members of] the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Special Hearing of the National Defense and Foreign Affairs

Parliamentary Committee

Defense Minister Evangelos Venizelos briefs the MPs on the events in Libya

The overall situation

Over the last few weeks we have been witnessing impressive –I’d say historic- developments in the Mediterranean region, in the Middle East, in North Africa and many Gulf countries. We see history in the making. The situation in the Arab world is changing and to a large extent we see collapsing stereotypes –under the scope of which we used to see things over the past few years, especially since the fall of Communism and the emergence of a new global balance of power.

New societies and demographic phenomena that emerge have little to do with the European standards. We can have an ambitious and long discussion about the deeper causes of those changes that appear to be, nonetheless, democratically led, demanding citizen participation in political power. For a country like Greece and for a continent such as Europe, who claim to exercise a principle-based policy, it is very important to express our awe and satisfaction, because those universal ideological characteristics remain alive. One can not be but positive, opposite the demand for democratic participation, for the rule of law and for the respect of human rights.