Lebanese govt approves maritime border with Cyprus

The Lebanese government on Thursday night approved the delimitation of its maritime border with Cyprus.

Thursday’s cabinet meeting was attended by both the country’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, with Energy Minister Joe Saddi saying after the meeting that “the next step will be to settle the delimitation of our maritime border with Syria, which must be done”.

Sources from Cyprus’ energy ministry told the Cyprus News Agency the move is a “very positive development”, while more details are expected to be announced when Saddi visits Cyprus on November 10.

The delimitation agreement between Lebanon and Cyprus had been signed in 2007, but in the intervening years, the agreement was never ratified by the Lebanese government.

However, in recent months, relations between the two countries have strengthened, with Aoun most recently meeting Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York last month.

There, Christodoulides pledged his support for a “safe and stable Lebanon”, and, according to government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, “reaffirmed his intention to further strengthen bilateral relations” between the two countries.

Christodoulides was also the first foreign leader to meet Aoun after he was elected as Lebanon’s president in January, with Aoun visiting Cyprus in July.

At the time, he said that “Cyprus has always been by Lebanon’s side” and highlighted the “proximity of the two countries, not only geographically, but also in common interests and challenges”.