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Egyptian parliament ratified on Tuesday a bilateral maritime border demarcation agreement with Greece, after the body’s legislative and constitutional committee approved the deal on Monday.
The agreement was signed by the Egyptian and Greek foreign ministers in Cairo on 6 August.
“The deal is in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, and it was signed in line with international law, so no country has the right to undertake inspection works in the Mediterranean,” said speaker of the House of Representatives Ali Abdel-Aal.
“The riches in the Mediterranean prompted some to act in a provocative way in the territorial waters and economic zones related to some countries…”
“This deal comes to close the door on all those trying to explore in the East Mediterranean in a provocative way,” Abdel-Aal added.
A report prepared by the legislative and constitutional affairs committee said MPs approved the deal after they had made sure that it is in line with Egypt’s constitutional and legal systems.
“The deal between the two republics of Egypt and Greece is also in line with international law,” said the report, adding: “It also includes establishing an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between the two countries.”
The deal aims at partially demarcating the maritime borders between the two parties in the Eastern Mediterranean, the report added.
“The demarcation of these borders will be completed when necessary and once consultations between the two countries on ‘point A’ and ‘point ‘E’ are finished, in line with international law,” said the report.
The report indicates that the EEZ will be between point A in the east and point E in the west and in line with attached geographical formulations, and that it forms an integral part of the deal.
It said any change in the geographical formulations between point A in the east and point E in the west must be concluded by a bilateral agreement between the two countries.
“If either of the two parties seek to sign an EEZ with a third country sharing maritime borders with the two countries, it shall inform the other party in advance and ahead of signing the deal with the third country.”
The deal also states that if natural resources, including hydrocarbons, are found in an extension area of the EEZ of the two countries, there should be a new deal on how to utilise these resources, and that any disputes in this respect will be settled through diplomatic channels.
