Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transports Ali Hamieh asserted that Lebanon, and in particular Hezbollah (the formation he represents within the government), “do not consider the time is right for the demarcation of borders with Syria and Cyprus.” He added, “This requires legal and technical studies to avoid the mistakes made in the past.”
His comments came in response to a call from the head of the Cypriot intelligence services, Tasos Tzionis, who had been visiting Lebanon over the past week. Tzionis called on the Lebanese authorities to resolve the border disputes with Syria in the north of the country, as this would help Cyprus determine its maritime borders with Lebanon and Syria, having signed a similar agreement with Israel.
Cyprus began negotiations with the Hebrew State to adjust its maritime borders on October 26, 2022, in light of the agreement on the demarcation of maritime borders signed between Lebanon and Israel.
At the time, Lebanon argued that it could not establish its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with Cyprus until it had reached an agreement with Syria on its northern maritime border. The president at the time, Michel Aoun, tried to send a delegation to Damascus to start negotiations, but Syria refused.
Furthermore, a former minister reported that Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had formed a ministerial committee that recommended the introduction of a new delimitation procedure. Additionally, it recommended the use of new coordinates to negotiate with Syria as well as the resumption of negotiations with Cyprus. As such, Lebanon found itself in a losing position when the EEZ with Cyprus was delimited in 2007.
