Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Chatzivasileiou stated on Wednesday that the planned subsea electricity cable between Greece, Cyprus and Israel remains secure due to French participation. Speaking in an interview on Greek television station SKAI, he said the project is moving forward according to schedule and that Greece will not retreat on issues involving its national interests or sovereign rights.
Chatzivasileiou underlined that peaceful infrastructure initiatives, such as subsea power cables, do not require regulatory permits. He described the connection as a European project that will end the energy isolation of the Republic of Cyprus and link European energy networks directly with the Middle East.
The proposed interconnector is designed to bridge electrical grids across the Mediterranean seabed. Cyprus, an island member of the European Union, has long lacked direct physical power links to continental Europe.
Turkish marine park proposals
Addressing recent diplomatic friction with Ankara, Chatzivasileiou dismissed Turkish proposals for marine parks as fake. He explained that under international law, national marine parks apply strictly to territorial waters rather than international waters.
He added that Turkey is attempting to claim national parks across areas of international waters without clarifying what those designations actually contain. He reiterated that Greece leaves no challenge unanswered in maintaining its sovereign maritime rights.
Opposition criticism rejected
Chatzivasileiou also rejected criticism from domestic political opponents, calling claims of government conciliation entirely false. He noted that the administration of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis signed Exclusive Economic Zone agreements with Italy and Egypt, expanded Greek territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Ionian Sea, and implemented a series of legal maritime measures.
Asking where critics saw any sign of yielding, Chatzivasileiou called for an end to populism and cheap criticism. He concluded that national maritime policy is a serious matter and urged all political forces to exercise double caution when discussing such issues.
