President Sakellaropoulou addresses symposium on UNCLOS held on Rhodes

Resolving disputes between countries on the basis of international law is a standing position for Greece, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou said on Monday in her address to the 4th Symposium on International Law and International Policy for the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, organised on the island of Rhodes by the Hellenic Society for International Law and International Relations on the topic “40 years since the 1982 Montego Bay Convention on the Law of the Sea”.

Sakellaropoulou underlined that this was more than just a slogan or empty words but a “deep conviction and a stance that informs our foreign policy and ensures the good neighbourly relations that we have respected and served through the years.”

“At a time when international law and its fundamental values are being brutally threatened and violated, as is unfortunately shown by the flagrantly contrary to these values invasion by Russia of Ukraine, Greece insists on its unswerving implementation as a counterweight to all trends toward revisionism and expansionism.”

She went on to stress the importance and symbolic significance of the conference held on Rhodes at a time when these values were under threat, noting that the topics it addressed were crucial elements of Greek foreign policy, especially regarding its relations to Turkey.

“Legal precision in these areas, in accordance with the law of the sea and international commitments, serves our national interests,” Sakellaropoulou added.