The European Union has criticised Libya’s Parliament for ratifying a maritime deal with Turkey that sets out sea boundaries in the Mediterranean, according to a joint statement by European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The agreement ratified on Monday was described as the “so-called Libyan-Turkish Memorandum of Understanding on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean Sea”, in a statement issued by the two EU leaders.
The EU’s position on the deal was set out by the European Council in 2019 and “remains unchanged.”
The memorandum “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states”, does not comply with the Law of the Sea — the body of international rules governing maritime boundaries and rights — and is “null and void”, Costa and von der Leyen stated.
Solidarity with Greece and Cyprus
The EU leaders said the bloc was reaffirming its “solidarity with Greece and Cyprus”.
They also repeated the EU’s position “against any outside interference in Libya.”
