Libya announces the expansion of its thermal waters to 12 nautical miles and begins to implement the Turkish-Libyan memorandum

Dbeib’s internationally recognized transitional government has notified the UN of its decision to expand Libya’s territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and declare a contiguous zone a further 24 nautical miles to the north – a right it has under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

At the same time, the Greek government does not do the obvious, that is, it does not expand Greek territorial waters to 12 nautical miles south of Crete, so as not to displease Turkey, writes a popular Greek publication ProNews.

These specific Libyan actions were taken in response to a decree defining the western boundaries of Egypt’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but essentially they occur in the context of the implementation of the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, under which Turkey and Libya seize part of the Greek continental shelf.

It is worth noting that Libya and Egypt do not agree on the delimitation of their maritime borders, and in the latest letter to the UN, Tripoli essentially claims that they lie further to the east.

It is worth noting that the 24 nautical mile border zone does not give the state that proclaims it sovereign rights, but does give rights to control matters relating to trade (customs), security or migration.

All lines are drawn based on the Libyan understanding of things, therefore, in the east, on the border with Egypt. Of course, Cairo is expected to respond to this delimitation with a letter to the UN, in particular to the Directorate for Oceans and the Law of the Sea, where the Libyan decision is currently housed.

The Gulf of Sirte is considered “closed” and is the starting point for the baselines, which are the starting point for measuring territorial waters, maritime zones such as the declared contiguous and of course the EEZ.

It is unacceptable that Athens remains inactive on the issue of the upcoming expansion of territorial waters in the south of Crete, which lie opposite Libyan Cyrenaica, by 12 miles, and at the same time Ankara and Tripoli signed a memorandum according to which Libya and Turkey have common shores!

Let us recall that Greece began to expand its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the maritime area of ​​the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands, up to Cape Taenaro in the Peloponnese, about three years ago (presidential decree in December 2020 and adopted by parliament in January 2021). However, this decision was not accompanied by a corresponding decision to declare a border zone of 24 nautical miles in the Ionian Sea.

The expansion did not include Crete, as the Mitsotakis government feared a Turkish reaction even there.

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