The Libyan Parliament- designated Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha called on Egypt, Turkey, and Greece not to take unilateral decisions regarding demarcating the maritime borders with Libya.
In a statement, Bashagha said that “the critical and exceptional circumstances that Libya is going through result from a complex international and regional conflict.”
Bashagha pointed out that the conflict of interests of some countries – which he did not name – “were and still are the cause of the fragility of the situation in Libya. Some countries have unfortunately contributed to preventing the Libyan government from taking over the headquarters in the capital, Tripoli, to run the government,” he noted.
“It is unfortunate that we see some countries taking advantage of the situation in Libya…to serve their interests, without taking into account Libyan interests,” he said.
Bashagha called on the governments of “neighbouring and friendly” countries of Egypt, Turkey, and Greece not to take any unilateral steps regarding defining and demarcating maritime borders. He stressed that the demarcation of the maritime borders at this time “would increase tensions, and exacerbate the situation in the Mediterranean region.”
Bashagha affirmed that the Libyan government is “ready to negotiate with those countries over demarcating the maritime borders, in a way that serves the common and just interests of all. We seek to hold negotiations in a way that guarantees the preservation of the rights of all countries, based on the principle of mutual recognition of borders. This will be done according to international laws.”
On Tuesday, Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah El Sisi issued a decree demarcating the country’s western maritime borders with Libya.
“The borders of Egypt’s territorial waters begin from the Egyptian-Libyan land border point No. 1 for a distance of 12 nautical miles, reaching point No. 8, and thus Egypt’s western maritime borderline launches from point No. 8 in the direction of the north,” the decree said, which was published in the official gazette.
Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias held a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry. “Our discussion focused on security and stability in the SE Mediterranean, including yesterday’s decree issued by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi,” Dendias tweeted on Wednesday.
In October, Turkey and the Tripoli-based government, headed by Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, signed a series of economic agreements that included energy exploration in maritime areas.
The agreements will allow for oil and gas exploration in Libyan waters, and come three years after the two countries signed a maritime border deal, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said after signing the MoU in Tripoli.
Egypt and Greece strongly condemned the deals, which are in disputed waters between Turkey and Libya.