Greece and Egypt Revive Sea Border Talks in Riposte to Turkey-Libya Deal

Greece and Egypt have agreed to resume talks on extending their 2020 maritime boundary agreement.

It is the first joint diplomatic response to the ratification of a rival Turkey-Libya deal that both countries reject.

Negotiations that had stalled for years will now focus on waters east of the 28th meridian, where the 2020 line ends.

Any extension there would cut directly across Turkish claims near the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo.

A smaller section west of the 26th meridian also remains unresolved.

The move comes two days after Libya's eastern-based House of Representatives ratified a 2019 memorandum with Turkey that ignores Greek islands, including Crete.

The vote was a blow to Egypt, which for years used its close ties with eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar to block the deal.

A new agreement recognizing maritime zones generated by Greek islands would strengthen Athens' legal position against Ankara, which disputes the islands' rights to such zones.

But a deal faces obstacles.

In 2020, Egypt initially insisted on limiting the boundary to waters between the 26th and 28th meridians to avoid the most contested areas.

It agreed to a possible future extension only after talks between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

Under that agreement, Greece received about 44% to 45% of the area and Egypt the rest. That was well below the share a median line would have given Greece.

Talks further east will be harder still because of a dispute over how much weight to give tiny Kastellorizo, which lies just off the Turkish coast.

The outcome is likely to hinge on how far Cairo, which has worked to mend ties with Ankara in recent years, is willing to risk a new rift with Turkey, and how much Athens is prepared to concede.

By Antonis Telopoulos

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