Addressing parliament on Wednesday during the plenary debate on the draft bill extending Greece’s territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Ionian Sea, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis began his speech with a reference to the state of the united Ionian Islands, which was established and acquired constitutional status in 1818. The draft bill covers the region of the Ionian Sea and the Ionian islands, up to Cape Tainaro in the Peloponnese.
“It was the first form of territorial reference to Hellenism after 400 years of enslavement. A region that became part of the Kingdom of Greece in 1864. Today, over a century and half later, Greece is growing again in the same region,” he said, adding: “Today, in early 2021, we are taking the second substantial step and our country is extending its sovereignty in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles. I had already announced it in August 2020. Greece can obviously also exercise this right around Crete but at a time, in a manner and under the conditions of its own choosing.”
