Greece disrupts sanctions busting oil transfers off its coast

Over the past two years an area south of Greece’s Peloponnese had become a major location to circumvent sanctions against Russian oil exports. It looks like Greece has now found a way to disrupt these operations - taking place in international waters - after the Greek navy blocked off the area for naval exercises. A factor in this story is the fact that Greece has not extended its territorial waters in the area to 12 nautical miles, a move that Turkey says is a cause for war. Professor Kostas Ifantis joins Thanos Davelis to discuss how Greece is taking steps to block these oil transfers, examine the question of Greece’s territorial seas, and look ahead at the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Mitsotakis and Turkish President Erdogan.Kostas Ifantis is a Professor of International Relations at the Department of International, European and Area Studies at Panteion University of Athens, and has previously served as Director for Research at the Policy Planning Center of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Steps to block oil transfers off Greek coastNorth Macedonia holds presidential and parliamentary elections WedAthens wary of VMRO comebackFinance watchdog visited Turkey ahead of 'grey list' decision