After 25 days, Athens sent a demarche to Kyiv over the drone near Lefkada

Athens officially sent Kyiv demarche due to an armed naval drone found near Lefkada.

Greece officially sent a diplomatic demarche to Ukraine due to an armed maritime drone discovered off the coast Lefkada. This was reported by a representative Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lana Zohiu during a briefing for diplomatic correspondents. Athens is now awaiting an official response from the Ukrainian side.

According to Lana ZohiuGreek Ambassador to Kyiv conveyed the corresponding demarche to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that in this way Greece “in the most official manner” protested the discovery of an armed unmanned marine vehicle in Greek territorial waters. This is stated in the official transcript of the Greek Foreign Ministry.

Previously “Athens News” wrote in detail about the background of the incident: May 8 Greek fishermen discovered off the coast Lefkada maritime drone, visually similar to Ukrainian MAGURA V5. The device was found in the area of ​​a sea cave and towed to the port Vasiliki and handed over to the Greek authorities. Read more about this in the material “Greek fishermen “caught” the MAGURA V5 marine drone off the coast of Lefkada”.

Later Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias admitted that the found device was Ukrainian, calling the incident “exceptionally serious.” “Athens News” also wrote about the political consequences of this assessment in the material “Dendias recognized the drone as Ukrainian. Lefkada and “neutral waters”.

Demarche with delay

Formally, a diplomatic step was taken. Politically, the question is different: why did he appear only after almost 25 days after detecting a drone. If the device was indeed armed and Ukrainian, and it was located in Greek territorial waters, then such a delay looks at least strange.

The Greek media are already calling the demarche “frozen” – and this wording is unpleasantly accurate. For a long time, Athens tried to talk about the incident carefully, as if it was not about a potentially dangerous naval drone off a Greek island, but about an inconvenient object that was accidentally fished out of the water and now it is unclear where to put it so as not to spoil the diplomatic interior.

According to ΣΚΑΪa Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that after receiving a response from Kyiv The Greek side will evaluate its further actions. At the same time Athens emphasize that they continue to support efforts to achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukrainebut consider observance of international law, freedom of navigation and protection of the marine environment mandatory. ΣΚΑΪ

“Obviously, we support efforts to achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine, but everyone without exception must respect international law, freedom of navigation and the marine environment,” she said Lana Zohiu. She also added: “No war ends with its expansion”.

What exactly does Athens require?

According to NaftemporikiGreece expressed strong disagreement with the illegal presence of an armed drone and called on the Ukrainian side to refrain from such actions in the future. Athens is also awaiting official explanations from Kyiv. Naftemporiki

A separate question is whether the Ukrainian side tried to return the device. At a briefing of diplomatic correspondents, journalists directly asked whether he had requested Kyiv drone return. Lana Zohiu replied that she had nothing to add on this issue. Such diplomatic brevity, as usual, says less than we would like and more than is convenient.

The incident remains sensitive not only for relationships Athens And Kyivbut also for the safety issue in Ionian Sea. An armed maritime drone found by fishermen off a Greek island is not an ordinary technical glitch. It is a question of maritime control, risks to shipping, allied liability, and how far the war can extend beyond the official theater of operations.

Editorial comment

The very fact of the demarche is important, but its belatedness is even more important. If a Ukrainian armed drone had Lefkada was discovered by official structures, and not by fishermen, perhaps Athens could have controlled the information picture differently. But it was the accidental discovery that made the problem public and put the government in an awkward position: it had to explain not only the origin of the device, but also its own reaction.

Greece has the right to support Ukraine in war and at the same time demand from it respect for Greek territorial waters, safety of navigation and international law. Allies do not mean the right to bring war to foreign shores, especially when it comes to an armed drone that could pose a threat to civilian ships and the marine environment.

Phrase Lana Zohiu that “not a single war ends with its expansion” sounds especially accurate in this case. The only problem is that this thought had to be uttered not 25 days after the incident, but at the moment when it became clear: off the coast of the Greek island there was not a fishing buoy or lost equipment, but an armed sea drone. Belated diplomacy is better than silence, but worse than timely defense of one’s own interests.

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