The issue of the sea / Dendias does not back down: We will defend our rights in The Hague, we must extend 12 miles to the Ion

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has spoken again about the sea issue with Albania, stressing that they will defend their rights at the Hague Court.

In a speech he stated that Greece will act in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

"Greece has repeatedly expressed its intention and readiness to negotiate similar agreements with other neighboring countries based on international law. For this purpose, we have agreed with Albania to refer to the determination of the maritime zones of the two states at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, in full accordance with the provisions of UNCLOS" , said Dendias.

The latter has emphasized the claims that Greece has the right to extend 12 miles into the Ionian Sea.

A little information about the sea issue

In October 2020, Albania and Greece decided to turn to international justice to resolve the debate on the delimitation of the maritime space between the two neighboring states. The news was announced at that time during the visit of Nikos Dendias to Tirana.

The contradictions between the parties seem to have emerged when negotiations for an agreement regarding the division of maritime spaces in the Ionian Sea began in 2018, which were suspended in the summer of 2019. 

In 2009, the Constitutional Court (CJK) rejected the Sea Agreement between Albania and Greece. The Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted at Montego Bay in 1982 and ratified by both neighboring countries, gives ratifying countries the right to extend their territorial waters up to 12 miles. But only if the geographical circumstances allow it.  

Albania and Greece share three spaces in the Ionian Sea: Territorial Sea, Continental Shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone. These last two are related to the use of space and underwater assets, such as the search for gas, oil, etc. For all three of these areas, the two neighboring countries have strategic interests. 

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea clearly states in its 320 articles that each country exercises "full sovereignty and sovereign rights in a clearly defined area, with maritime coordinates, located on an agreed map and accompanied by nautical coordinates for the 3 spaces."