Mitsotakis says Turkish-Libyan maritime claims have no legal force

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed ministers at the cabinet meeting held on Monday, 2 November, at the Maximos Mansion, opening with the Turkish-Libyan memorandum. He said unilateral claims that run against the Law of the Sea have no legal force and do not change Greece's planning. His remarks came while Greece was awaiting a NAVTEX notice concerning the Greece-Cyprus GSI electricity interconnector cable.

“Arbitrary claims contrary to the Law of the Sea have no force whatsoever. They produce no faits accomplis, nor do they overturn our national plans.”

Mitsotakis also said Greece is proposing a worldwide maritime ceasefire, which he argued would free critical trade routes and hold down living costs across the world. He returned to his earlier intervention at the UN Security Council, linking the legal position on the claims to that forum.

“Greece is proposing a global maritime ceasefire that will free up critical trade routes, containing the cost of living across the planet.”

Energy crisis and household costs

Mitsotakis described the energy crisis as a global upheaval to which no national policy can respond. On household costs, he said the government was doing what it could and acknowledged the pressure on families. He told ministers that the government was doing 'what is best' in response to the strain.

“I know that many of our households are being tested.”

He added that reserves built up through prudent economic policy leave the government cautiously optimistic about the economy. He presented that optimism as measured, not as a claim that the pressure has passed.

The final stretch before the elections

Mitsotakis described the six months before the spring elections as a final straight that is also a benchmark for the government's own obligation to complete its programme. He said the government chose to serve out its term without slowing the pace of its work. By the end of the parliamentary term, he said, 90 priorities should have been turned into action.

He listed areas ministries are expected to advance, including taxation, wages, housing, infrastructure and the modernization of the state. He called the government's record its passport to credibility and the best answer to what he described as the opposition's nihilism, asking to be judged on the collective performance of the government before voters.

Tax evasion and criminal cases

Mitsotakis cited recent tax evasion cases and the solving of the explosion in Plaka as evidence that legality is non-negotiable for the government. He said crime has always existed but is now being exposed and prosecuted in major cases. He also said that some people had kept parliament open in 2019 to change the criminal codes.

He spoke of clashes with entrenched behaviours and structures in public life, which he said had sometimes been tolerated by the 'deep state'. He directed the remarks at those he said were now surprised by lawlessness around them.