Greece rejects bargaining over maritime boundaries

Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis has rejected treating maritime boundaries as a contest over territorial gains, stressing Athens’ close ties with Cairo when questioned about reports of Turkish efforts to secure a maritime agreement with Egypt.

Speaking after meeting UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York on 28 October, Gerapetritis said international law must govern the settlement of competing maritime claims. 

He pointed to Egypt’s support for Greece at the United Nations over the Turkey–Libya maritime memorandum, which Athens regards as unlawful and invalid. Egypt’s UN representative had stood alongside him during a statement addressing the agreement, he said.

Gerapetritis described relations with Cairo as strategic and said both countries shared a commitment to applying international law consistently. 

The minister said neighbouring coastal states should resolve their differences through cooperation, while warning that Greece would not accept actions it considered contrary to international law. Seas and oceans, he argued, could not be treated as the exclusive preserve of individual states.

He warned that abandoning legal rules in favour of competing national gains would have consequences beyond coastal countries, threatening global trade, food supplies and energy security.