Cyprus ready to agree maritime borders with Greece — Cyprus Mail

Cyprus is ready to delimit maritime borders with Greece, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said. According to him, the technical procedures for this have been ready for some time, but the final decision must be made at the highest political level, Cyprus Mail reports.

Technical procedures are ready

Kombos made the statement during a discussion of the Foreign Ministry’s budget for next year at the parliamentary finance committee. After the meeting, he said that Nicosia views positively the possibility of establishing maritime boundaries with Athens.

The minister stressed that the issue is sensitive and requires consideration of a number of political factors. According to him, Cyprus will continue discussions with Greece, as an appropriate moment needs to be found for a decision. Kombos also noted that the possible consequences of such a step would concern not only the two states.

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Disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean

The Republic of Cyprus already has maritime delimitation agreements with Egypt, Israel and Lebanon. The Lebanese government approved the maritime border with Cyprus last year. Greece, for its part, concluded a similar agreement with Egypt in 2020, but there is still no agreement between Athens and Nicosia.

Kombos’s statement came after Libya’s parliament ratified a maritime borders agreement signed with Turkey. The Republic of Cyprus and Greece believe that this arrangement affects Greek territorial waters. The Turkish-Libyan agreement drew a line southeast of the Greek island of Crete.

Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, citing the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, believe that islands are entitled to a full exclusive economic zone. Turkey and Libya hold a different position, believing that the convention gives islands too much weight.