Greece’s opposition PASOK party will bring the Turkish-Libyan maritime memorandum before the European Parliament in November, demanding its unequivocal condemnation and concrete EU sanctions while accusing the Greek government of failing to protect the country’s sovereign rights.
The party’s four MEPs — Giannis Maniatis, Nikos Papandreou, Sakis Arnaoutoglou and Nikolas Farantouris — have launched a joint initiative with the full backing of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) political group.
The upcoming parliamentary debate will focus on what PASOK describes as violations of Greece’s and Cyprus’s sovereign rights, as well as the rejection of the Turkish-Libyan agreement, which the party considers illegal and invalid.
PASOK’s delegation will also press the European Union to adopt specific political, institutional and economic measures, arguing that verbal declarations of support no longer suffice.
In a joint statement, the four MEPs launched a strong attack on the New Democracy government, arguing that recent developments in Libya have undermined its assurances of diplomatic progress.
They pointed to the Libyan House of Representatives’ approval of the memorandum, saying the decision exposed the shortcomings of the government’s diplomatic handling of the issue and its failure to present a clear plan to safeguard Greece’s national interests.
“The developments in Libya disprove the government’s assurances of diplomatic progress. The New Democracy government owes explanations for its failed handling of the issue and must present a concrete plan to protect Greece’s sovereign rights,” the MEPs said.
“Defending national interests requires results. The government’s assurances, designed for public consumption, have already been disproved,” they added.
PASOK insists that the European Union must move beyond formal resolutions and expressions of solidarity and introduce tangible sanctions against all parties involved in the agreement.
The party argues that the memorandum undermines stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and violates international law.
“Through our initiative, we are calling for the European Parliament to unequivocally condemn the illegal and invalid Turkish-Libyan memorandum and for the EU to provide tangible support to our country at every level,” the four MEPs said.
“Declarations of support alone are not enough. We must finally move towards concrete sanctions against all parties to this illegal agreement, which runs entirely counter to international law of the sea,” they added.
(Source: Ta Nea)
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