CAIRO: Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, and his Greek counterpart, Giorgos Gerapetritis, on Thursday reaffirmed their nations’ rejection of the ratification by the Libyan parliament on Tuesday of a 2019 maritime agreement with Turkiye on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean.

Ambassador Nader Zaki, a spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, said the ministers stressed the importance of respecting international law and the provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea regarding the delimitation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, based on the principles of equity and fairness. They also agreed to continue consultations about maritime boundaries in accordance with international law.

Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a former Egyptian assistant foreign minister, told Arab News that Cairo’s position on the issue remained clear. Egypt supported adherence to international law and the Convention on the Law of the Sea, he said, adding that the agreement between Libya and Turkiye violated those principles.

The memorandum of understanding in 2019 was agreed between Turkiye and Libya’s western-based Government of National Accord in Tripoli, headed by Fayez Al-Sarraj, which later became the Government of National Unity.

Hassan noted that earlier that year the Libyan parliament, the House of Representatives, a rival, eastern-based authority led by Aguila Saleh, had rejected the agreement. The Convention on the Law of the Sea was endorsed by the majority of countries, he added, and Egypt remained committed to international law.

Salah Halima, an Egyptian former assistant foreign minister, similarly told Arab News that Egypt and Greece remained committed to the principles of international law and the 1982 UN convention. He added the decision by the House of Representatives this week had reversed its previous position by approving an agreement it previously rejected.

In addition to the ministers’ comments, the wider Egyptian authorities also expressed strong opposition to the decision by the House of Representatives to ratify the agreement with Turkiye.

The Greek Foreign Ministry also rejected the vote, saying it “does not alter the illegal, invalid and groundless nature of the memorandum.” Cyprus similarly condemned the decision, describing the memorandum as “illegal, null and void.”

Egypt and Greece signed their own maritime boundaries agreement in August 2020, partially defining their own exclusive economic zones in the eastern Mediterranean.