The French company Nexans is expected to begin seabed survey operations in Greek territorial waters in early November for the subsea cable project, having submitted a request to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs to initiate the NAVTEX issuance process.
Diplomatic sources told parapolitika.gr that the contractor submitted its request exclusively to Greece for the implementation of the works. As government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis clarified, “Greece has not coordinated with the authorities of any other state, apart from France and Cyprus, which is self-evident.” Furthermore, as the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously made clear, Greece would not have accepted a request from the contractor had it also been submitted to a third country.
Read also: Crete-Cyprus cable: What will Turkey do when laying begins? “The question is whether it will send a warship,” warns Antonis Klapsis on parapolitika.gr
The cable project reaches a critical juncture — Turkey pressures Libya
The GSI cable project is entering a critical phase, as the survey operations will soon extend from national territorial waters into international waters. The core issue lies off the coast of Kasos, where the illegal Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum overlaps with the partial maritime boundary delimitation between Greece and Egypt. According to sources, Ankara is pressuring Libya to have its House of Representatives ratify the illegal Turkey-Libya memorandum in order to give it some form of legal standing, exploiting the departure of Aguila Saleh from the presidency of the assembly. Such a development would provide Turkey with additional arguments for asserting jurisdiction over areas it disputes.
Athens and Cairo on a united front
Yesterday, during the third round of Political Consultations between Greece and Egypt on the Libyan issue, particular emphasis was placed on respect for international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Athens and Cairo remain aligned, jointly rejecting the illegal Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum.
