“The red line is one and only one: that we never relinquish our right to extend [our territorial waters] to 12 nautical miles,” State Μinister Giorgos Gerapetritis said on Tuesday in a radio interview with the state broadcaster ERT. He warned that “Greece will not allow any offshore drilling” within this area.

Gerapetritis also turned his fire on the opposition, accusing it of indulging in a policy on national issues that was “irresponsible and low cost”.

“However, we all have a fundamental obligation in a democracy, and that obligation is to ensure our citizens are properly informed. Citizens are not a herd but people … who have a full constitutional right to know how things stand in their proper dimensions,” the Minister of State stressed. “The correct dimension as it relates to maritime zones is very specific. Today, our territorial waters are at six nautical miles. Greece unilaterally reserves the sovereign right, at any time under international law, to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles. Beyond the six nautical miles, there are international waters. Of course, Greece has sovereign rights up to 200 miles or more,” he added.

(AMNA)