With the Maritime Spatial Plan announced this morning, just a short while before the KYSEA meeting at the Maximos Mansion, it was a given that the issue would appear on the agenda of the governmental body. Hence, in addition to Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, the relevant Minister for Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, also participated in the session.

According to cross-checked information from protothema.gr, following the initial briefing by Mr. Gerapetritis to those present and his clarification that the submission of the maps and the accompanying rationale — stretching across hundreds of pages — to the European Commission was the result of weeks of preparation and not a reaction to the Turkish map leak in Milliyet newspaper, the scenarios of Turkey’s reaction were evaluated.

According to the same line of information, Athens considers that the two most likely possibilities are as follows. The first is that there will be a verbal reaction from the relevant ministries of the neighboring country, which will then be broadly echoed by its media, accompanied by the already-presented map that depicts half the Aegean as part of Turkey’s claimed sphere of influence. The second scenario is that Ankara will seek to find an international forum — presumably a related or even unrelated organization — in order to submit its map and pursue some form of legitimization of its claims, given that Greece is submitting its maritime spatial plan to the European Commission.

KYSEA members, with whom protothema.gr spoke, believe that Turkey will be anything but pleased, though they are waiting to see how far it will escalate its response. “The crucial issue is not to return to a confrontational state,” a relevant source stated. For Athens, it is a given that Turkey knew Greece would submit the map, as it was part of its formal obligation following the European Court’s decision at the end of February, which gave Greece until the end of April to take the necessary steps to “remedy” previously submitted maps. It is also recalled that about two weeks ago, Giorgos Gerapetritis and Hakan Fidan had met in Brussels.

Politically, however, government officials are watching with interest the “silence” from the right over the past several hours, noting that reactions have been minimal. “We defend national interests in practice,” government sources emphasized since the morning, while notable was the comment by Adonis Georgiadis, taking a subtle jab at the “right flank” of ND, stating that “while others talk and accuse us, the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is doing its job.”

KYSEA Announcement

“The Governmental Council for National Security (KYSEA) convened today under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

During the session, briefings were provided by Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis and Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou on the national strategy for the maritime space and the formulation and specification of the Maritime Spatial Plan.

Also discussed and approved was the Long-Term Defense Equipment Program for the Armed Forces for the period 2025–2036.”