“There is no problem between Lebanon and Cyprus that cannot be resolved easily,” Cypriot special envoy Tasos Tzionis, said on Friday after meeting with outgoing Lebanese President Michel Aoun, to discuss maritime delimitation.
According to Reuters, the Cypriot delegation in Lebanon on Friday for talks on maritime border delineation between the two countries said any disputes during that process could be easily resolved.
Lebanon and Cyprus reached a maritime border agreement in 2007 but it was never ratified by Lebanon’s parliament and therefore never went into force, the report adds. Cyprus delineated its maritime exclusive economic zone vis-a-vis Israel in 2010. Lebanon and Israel officially delineated their contested sea boundary on Thursday, following years of U.S. – mediated indirect talks.
Aoun said the next step following that achievement would be delineating Lebanon’s maritime boundaries with northern neighbour Syria and resuming talks with Cyprus to the west.
Lebanon’s deputy speaker of parliament and border negotiator, Elias Bou Saab, said that Syria is still the priority and added that “we will not delineate with Cyprus until we communicate with Syria.”
Source: Cyprus News Agency