Caspian Report - Issue: 08 - Fall 2014

multilateral initiatives or to establish
tactical and strategic alliances.
Now Greek foreign policy needs to
recalibrate in response to a changing
regional and global security and
economic environment, and support
to the national effort to re-build
the economy; furthermore it must
achieve that goal with limited resources
and under time pressure.
Energy-related projects can be instrumental
in Greece’s effort to repair
its image, regain a leading role
in the region, increase its influence,
accumulate ‘diplomatic capital’, and
boost economic growth in the medium-
to long-term. In addition to
TAP, Greece should try to enlarge its
footprint in the energy map through
other projects, including South
Stream, as well as the exploitation of
potential hydrocarbons deposits in
various parts of the country, notably
in Western Greece and the maritime
areas to the southeast of Crete.
While Greece should intensify its
diplomatic efforts toward the delimitation
of its exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) and other maritime
zones with neighbouring countries
according to the provisions of the
United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea UNCLOS, this should
not unduly delay efforts to exploit
natural resources in the aforementioned
areas. In the context of its
deep economic and political crisis,
Greece went through a phase of hydrocarbon
hysteria, where the Greek
people, exhausted by the austerity
policies, were looking for a magic
formula, an easy way out of the economic
crisis: energy resources fit
the description perfectly.
There are now more realistic public
expectations and the Greek government
has taken the necessary
preliminary steps for research and
exploitation of hydrocarbons by tendering
exploration and production
licenses in three areas in Western
Greece (February 2012 - July 2013).
It is preparing to issue a mega-tender
for 20 offshore blocks which
cover an area of 220,000 km2 spanning
from the north of Corfu to the
south-eastern part of Crete, possibly
before the end of 2014.
IT IS THROUGH IGB AND ITS CONNECTION WITH
TAP THAT GREECE CAN ALSO START OFFER ITS
NORTH-EASTERN EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURS THE
TRANSIT SECURITY THAT NABUCCO FAILED TO
DELIVER.
Although there have been no official
statements or documents outlining
a comprehensive Greek hydrocarbons
exploration policy, looking at
the Greek debate it is possible to
present a basic outline:
First, Greece does not wish to test
its relations with neighbouring
countries. Athens needs stability on
the foreign policy front to facilitate
recovery from the economic crisis.
This is not suggest that Greece
would not react to a move by another
side attempting to change the
bilateral status quo. Greece will play
strictly by the international rules of
the law of the sea, and that will include
bilateral consultations with
other countries with which Greece
shares maritime zones. Talks are
under way with Egypt, Albania and
Libya, although the domestic situation
in that country is rather chaotic,
leaving very little room for substantive
negotiations.
It is not clear whether such talks will
take place anytime soon with Turkey,
despite the fact that there have been
more than 60 rounds of high-level
consultations between diplomats.
Although it appears reasonable to
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CASPIAN REPORT, FALL 2014