Ikaria's short flight to independence

Article | July 18, 2012 - 11:17am

The Greek Embassy in Vienna strongly reacted to speculations about possibility of one of its islands – Ikaria – breaking away from country and joining Austria.

“Ikaria is an inseparable part of Greek national territory,” the embassy statement said and further explained that Greece is not governed on a federal basis, but as a unitary state, clarifying that there is no agreement between the government and the Greek islands, which would be subject to expiration.

The Greek diplomats explained that the island celebrated 100^th anniversary of the revolution and liberation from the Ottoman Empire, but that the Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923, constitutes the legal basis for annexation of the East Aegean islands by Greece.