Egypt has formally rejected Libya’s declared outer limits of its continental shelf and any associated agreements with Turkey, warning that they infringe on Egypt’s sovereign maritime rights and violate international law.
In a diplomatic note submitted to the United Nations on 8 September 2025, Egypt’s Permanent Mission expressed strong objection to Libya’s notes verbales issued in May and June 2025, which outlined new maritime boundaries and zones for hydrocarbon exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. Egypt declared that Libya’s claims overlap with Egypt’s western maritime boundaries and infringe upon its territorial sea, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and continental shelf.
Cairo also denounced the memorandum of cooperation signed between Libya’s National Oil Corporation and the Turkish Petroleum Corporation on 25 June 2025, which includes geological and geophysical surveys in four maritime areas. One of these zones, referred to as “Area 4,” directly overlaps with Egypt’s maritime space. Egypt stated that any activities based on this memorandum are “unlawful, invalid, and without legal consequence.”
Furthermore, Egypt reiterated its longstanding position rejecting the controversial 2019 and 2022 maritime memoranda signed between Libya and Turkey. It emphasized that these agreements have no legal status under international law and that Egypt will not recognize any maritime claims based on them.
The protest note emphasized that Libya’s actions are incompatible with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and violate established norms of international maritime practice. Egypt cited Presidential Decree 595/2022, which defines its western maritime border, and reaffirmed earlier diplomatic communications from 2019 to 2024 that reject any unilateral Libyan claims in overlapping zones.
Despite the sharp protest, Egypt reaffirmed its commitment to resolving maritime disputes through peaceful dialogue and negotiations based on international law. It stated its readiness to engage with neighboring states in good faith to reach fair and lawful agreements on maritime delimitation in the Mediterranean.
