11145 - The power of the EEZ
N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Athina Kehagias
The power of the EEZ is not merely the subsoil, nor just its reserves. These enhance it, but are not her entity. EEZ is first of all a right. A right which you do not possess from the beginning and you ought to firstly establish in order to be able to utilize it for your nation, for your homeland. Therefore it depends upon your will, since you don’t have it if you don’t ask for it. The EEZ gives you possibilities that no other concept provided by the Law of the Sea offers you. Consequently if you don’t want it, you won’t have it no matter what you may say. The EEZ is not a hope. We have no need for hope. We are free because we fear nothing. The EEZ is not a gimmick, but a reality, the next one at that. Its establishment does not require anything from us, because it always occurs unilaterally and there is no other procedure. The establishment of the EEZ is not about regions, it is simply a legal act. The delimitation of the EEZ becomes meaningful only when there is overlapping, and in this case it is defined in the context of bilateral relations. Consequently, the demarcation becomes a reality only if the two States agree upon it. There is never a unilateral complaint as such. The EEZ is not a new trend, it has been around for decades, it’s merely now that is the time for its implementation . Because now everyone is aware of its characteristics. The European Union obtains the largest EEZ in the world due to its islands and for the same reason Greece has the second largest EEZ in the Mediterranean. The location of the Greek EEZ gives Greece geostrategic and geoeconomic specifications.In other words, the geopolitics of Greece acquires a substantial importance due to high strategy. This entire context becomes a field of action regarding the hydrocarbon issue as well due to the expected reserves of our homeland which are combined with the reserves of Cyprus. For this reason, we have moved on with the EuroAsia Interconnector and also with the matter of the natural gas pipeline. In fact, we have already submitted these plans to the European Union and they have already passed the first stages. In this manner, the Greek EEZ could cause the necessary recovery for an y development to make sense. Otherwise, without the Greek EEZ, the economic measures remain simply saving measures which do not offer possibilities for large investments. The Greek EEZ also enables us to save Thrace and Eastern Macedonia from the leprosy of gold, since it strategically allows us to avoid a barbaric exploitation which will permanently destroy the environment. The Greek EEZ also offers the endurance so that we do not have to bear the costs of unacceptable economic zones which want to encroach upon the European acquis but also the human rights of the workers. For all these reasons, but also for other possibilities related purely to renewable energean sources, we are fighting for the establishment of the Greek EEZ. All those who have not yet understood, they ought to study the Law of the Sea and the characteristics of the EEZ in order to understand now that we will implement our vision, the value of the endless blue.