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Greek ruling party calls for peaceful resolution of sovereignty disputes after Hague ruling

Xinhua, July 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Greece's ruling SYRIZA party has called for a peaceful resolution to the disputes over territorial sovereignty through either negotiations or an international court with the consent of both parties.

"SYRIZA expresses its firm commitment to the peaceful settlement of international disputes in accordance with Articles 2 (3) and 33 of the Charter of the United Nations," the radical left party said in a written statement sent recently to Xinhua.

SYRIZA made the remarks after a Hague-based tribunal handling the South China Sea arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the former Philippine government on Tuesday issued an ill-grounded award, denying China's long-standing historic rights in the South China Sea.

"In particular, with respect to the law of the sea, SYRIZA is in favor of the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the rules of customary international law and the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of the Sea," said the statement signed by Ioannis Bournous, member of the Political Secretariat of SYRIZA.

"SYRIZA takes the position that sovereignty disputes like the one between the Philippines and China should not to be submitted under such a dispute settlement system, which does not cover disputes over territorial sovereignty according to UN Convention," said Bournous, who is also responsible for European policy and international relations at the party.

"Such disputes should rather be resolved peacefully through negotiations or through their submission to an international court or a tribunal with the consent of both parties," said the statement.

Beijing does not accept nor recognize the award of the arbitral tribunal. "The award is null and void and has no binding force," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Endi