6772 - European EEZ
N. Lygeros
Translation: Paola Vagioni
The problem of Greece’s EEZ is neither fictional nor imaginary, as some might believe. On the contrary, as a notion the EEZ is a reality with multiple repercussions, specifically in the European framework. Many are just discovering the importance and the essence of the EEZ while the agreements of Cyprus concerning this issue already exist. Moreover, if we incorporate this problem into the European Union, then even a simple map of the Mediterranean is sufficient to prove the usefulness of the EEZ, independently from the indirect geostrategic benefits that its topostrategy promotes. The European EEZ is not just theoretical, it has acquired powerful elements of reality. The existence of France alone, which constitutes the second nation in the world after the United States and before Australia with the biggest EEZ in the world, allows the European Union to become as a whole entity, the first world EEZ in size. Therefore the importance of the EEZ cannot be questioned in a European framework. The outcome is that this volume on the globe is of strategic importance. Its base is not just the conventions but the mathematical substrate of topology and geometry. When we examine the issue of the European EEZ we realize that the problems with which we are involved with in the Greek space are not of the same range. In other words, when there is such a big catalytic framework on a European level with world repercussions, the enormous problems that we display with Turkey reach the limits of the insignificant. The traditional approach of the 12 miles problem, which has riveted Turkey in the Casus Belli sense, cannot be resolved simply with the shelf since the latter is established even more difficultly in a non-friendly environment and often requires judicial intervention. We are attempting to resolve one problem with another, which is harder. Because even the issue of the Neo-Ottoman doctrine is in opposition with this notion, especially when we examine the category of zero friction with the neighboring countries. The European EEZ changes radically the facts and this can be explained topostrategically. It is based on the notions of cohesion and of the topological hole, it incorporates mental schemata that have repercussions in big distances, it is founded solely on the notion of the middle line, which is reinforced via the methodology of the Voronoi diagrams and the Delaunay triangulation. As a national entity, Greece had other priorities in the past and examined only locally its problems. In consequence, it has not emphasized the issue of the EEZ and consecutively it in delay in relation to the other European countries but the timing remains correct because it has not closed the window of negotiations. Simply put, the correct framework is the European one. And the reason is simple. Structurally, the European Union is also an exclusive partition of the EEZ of the member countries. In this way every new member of the European Union must accept whatever is valid at the time of its integration. In consequence, the institutional framework of the European Union reinforces de facto and de jure our efforts. In other words, if we follow the proper strategic steps for the establishment of the Greek EEZ inside the framework of the European EEZ, we will reinforce the latter with our contribution and we will use it in our negotiations. Cyprus, which is in a more severe situation due to the occupation, has demonstrated the existence of this direction. The materialization of the Greek EEZ is a matter of will from our behalf. We are ready technocraticaly, we have acquired the expertise on a mathematical level, all there is left, is to take the political decision that will put in effect the entire European framework for our benefit and not just for now but mostly for the future of our homeland.