US envoy: Islands are entitled to EEZ, continental shelf

Commenting on the contentious agreement on maritime boundaries signed between Turkey and Libya’s internationally-recognized government, US Ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt said, in an interview published on Saturday, that Greek islands are on the same footing as the mainland when it comes to continental shelf and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Speaking to Greek daily Ta Nea, he also added that issues relating to the delimitation of maritime zones must be resolved through dialogue between the parties concerned, not with "unilateral actions,” noting that the US want the Eastern Mediteranean to be a “zone of cooperation and stability.”

In the same spirit, he described a plan between Greece, Israel and Cyprus to build an undersea pipeline to carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe as a “positive example.”

Pyatt also welcomed the approval by the Greek Parliament of a revised Greek-US defense agreement called (Protocol of Amendment to the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement) signed by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Athens in October 2019, saying that Washington views cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean region as “a central element” of its strategy.