Photo collected from Times of Israel

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov 26, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Lebanon and Cyprus on Wednesday 
signed a new maritime border agreement to demarcate the countries' exclusive 
economic zones, the latest high-seas deal aiming to open up commerce in the 
eastern Mediterranean.

The agreement comes nearly two decades after the countries hammered out a 
deal to delineate their respective exclusive economic zones.

The deal, however, was never ratified by the Lebanese parliament due to an 
unresolved dispute with Israel.

In 2022, Lebanon signed a maritime boundary deal with Israel, allowing the 
country to move forward with maritime border talks with Cyprus.

"We are here to celebrate the achievement of demarcating the exclusive 
economic zones between our two countries," Lebanese President Joseph Aoun 
said after the signing of the agreement alongside his Cypriot counterpart 
Nikos Christodoulides.

An exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, is an area of coastal water or territory 
within a certain area of a country's coast, where it has exclusive rights for 
fishing, drilling and other economic activities.

Lebanon, however, is still unable to define the entirety of its EEZ with 
Cyprus in the absence of a deal with Syria.

Following the signing of the agreement, the Lebanese president issued "a 
clear and honest invitation to complete this maritime understanding with all 
those who want to cooperate with us" but did not name Syria specifically.

Lebanon and Syria have largely reset ties following the fall of Bashar al-
Assad's government last year.