A breakthrough in efforts to delimitate maritime zones between direct neighbors Egypt and Libya appeared more likely on Monday, with powerful Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi receiving Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and de facto ruler of eastern Libya.
The meeting in Cairo was also attended by attended by the head of Egypt’s intelligence service and Haftar’s sone, Saddam Khalifa, the LNA’s deputy commander-in-chief.
According to the news site Ahram Online, El-Sisi and Haftar, among others, “discussed developments related to the demarcation of the joint maritime border between the two countries, agreeing on the importance of continuing cooperation in a manner that serves the interests of both states without causing any harm, in accordance with the rules of international law.”
The issue of delimitating maritime zones in the eastern Mediterranean, namely, Exclusive Economic Zones, dramatically appeared on Greece’s foreign policy “radar” in 2019 with the signing of a controversial agreement between Turkey and the internationally recognized provisional government in Tripoli – Haftar’s rival center of power in Libya.
The latter agreement is considered as baseless and illegal by Greece, the EU and, for the most part, by Egypt. The Tripoli-Ankara agreement essentially “erased” all Greek island territory in a bid to “align” the North African coast with Asia Minor.
Athens and Cairo subsequently signed a maritime agreement partially delineating maritime zones between them in the eastern Mediterranean, while Greek diplomacy has cultivated close ties with Haftar’s eastern Libya, while at the same time attempting to warm relations with the Tripoli-based government.
