By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
Egypt, the Republic of Cyprus and Greece renewed their call Tuesday for maritime jurisdiction agreements and memoranda to comply with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in a joint declaration issued after their summit in Al-Alamein.
The declaration, a copy of which was obtained by Bosphorus News, also calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya and for faster completion of projects connecting Cypriot gas fields with Egyptian gas infrastructure.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Republic of Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said agreements or memoranda delimiting maritime jurisdiction should be concluded in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS, and the principles agreed within their trilateral mechanism.
The formulation bears directly on one of the Eastern Mediterranean's unresolved maritime disputes, although the declaration does not name Türkiye. Ankara is not a party to UNCLOS and maintains that its 2019 maritime delimitation memorandum with Libya complies with international law and the principle of equitable delimitation. Greece continues to reject the memorandum as null and void.
The UNCLOS language closely follows the declaration adopted at the previous trilateral summit in Cairo in January 2025, when the three governments also said maritime delimitation agreements should conform with international law and UNCLOS.
On Libya, the new declaration backs an inclusive Libyan-led political process without foreign interference, calls for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections and demands the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries.
Energy cooperation occupies another substantial part of the text. The three leaders backed continued development of the Greece-Egypt GREGY electricity interconnector and called for the rapid completion of connections between Cypriot gas fields and Egyptian gas infrastructure and facilities. Egypt has been working separately with the Republic of Cyprus on projects involving the Aphrodite and Cronos fields.
On the Cyprus issue, the declaration supports the efforts of the United Nations secretary-general and his personal envoy and calls for a comprehensive settlement within the UN framework and in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions.
The wording is less specific than the January 2025 trilateral declaration, which explicitly referred to reunification under a bizonal, bicommunal federation with a single sovereignty, single international personality and single citizenship. The Al-Alamein text does not repeat that formula, while continuing to anchor any settlement in the UN framework.
Cypriot media had reported before the summit that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would be among the regional issues discussed. The final declaration contains no reference to the agreement or to Türkiye.
The three governments also backed the second phase of US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, a Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in Lebanon, and stronger economic, migration and water-security cooperation.
Sources: Joint Declaration of the Al-Alamein Trilateral Summit, Egyptian Presidency, Republic of Cyprus Presidency, Bosphorus News review and reporting.