Greece and Egypt are actively exploring an extension of their maritime agreement further east toward Cyprus, Greek Forei...

Greece and Egypt are actively exploring an extension of their maritime agreement further east toward Cyprus, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis confirmed Thursday, October 22. The move comes directly in response to eastern Libya's parliament ratifying the 2019 Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum earlier this week. That ratification, which Greece, Egypt and Cyprus have all opposed since the deal was first signed, appears to have accelerated talks between Athens and Cairo on strengthening their own counter-position in the eastern Mediterranean. Gerapetritis said any extension would fully comply with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. He and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty issued a joint statement reaffirming their opposition to the Libyan ratification and their commitment to UNCLOS as the governing legal framework. The two countries originally signed their Exclusive Economic Zone delimitation agreement in August 2020, establishing partial maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean. An eastward extension would bring that boundary closer to Cyprus and potentially tighten coordination between Athens, Cairo and Nicosia against the Turkey-Libya deal. Greece has consistently argued the Turkey-Libya memorandum cannot legally override the maritime rights of Greek islands, including Crete and the Dodecanese. Any further extension of the Greece-Egypt agreement would still require detailed negotiations over precise boundary lines before it could take effect. Cyprus and Israel have also condemned the Libyan ratification, with Israel's Foreign Ministry saying it "strongly" condemned the vote. The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on all parties to respect member states' sovereign rights under international law. #Greece #EasternMediterranean #Cyprus