Aoun announces Lebanon's approval of the final version of the agreement demarcating the southern maritime borders
The President of the Lebanese Republic, General Michel Aoun, announced this evening, Thursday, in a speech to his citizens, Lebanon's approval of the final formula for the demarcation of the southern maritime borders prepared by the American mediator Amos Hochstein, describing it as a historic achievement, declaring that Lebanon has become an oil-producing country.
President Aoun said: “After consulting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and in my capacity as head of state, and after I was informed by US President Joe Biden of Israel’s approval, and after the Israeli government announced its approval, I announced Lebanon’s position by agreeing to adopt the final formula prepared by the American mediator. To demarcate the southern maritime borders, pending the signing of the necessary texts by the American and Israeli sides, according to the mechanism adopted in the agreement.
He added: "Lebanon has the right to consider what was achieved yesterday as a historic achievement, because we were able to recover an area of 860 square kilometers that was the subject of a dispute, and Lebanon did not concede any one kilometer to Israel."
The President added: "We obtained the entire Qana field without any compensation paid by us, despite the fact that the entire field is not in our waters. Also, our land borders were not touched, and Lebanon did not recognize the buoyancy line that Israel created after its withdrawal from our lands in the year 2000, and no normalization with Israel, and no direct talks or agreements were concluded with it."
He also pointed out that "this indirect agreement responds to the Lebanese demands and preserves our rights in full. I thank everyone who stood by Lebanon in this achievement, which would not have been achieved without the unity and solidity of the Lebanese position in resisting all pressures, and for not making any substantial concessions, and for not entering it." in any kind of unacceptable normalization.”
The Lebanese president revealed that "the agreement stipulates how to resolve any disputes in the future, or in the event of the emergence of any other joint oil reservoir on both sides of the border, which gives reassurance and a stronger sense of stability on both sides of the border."
He said: "In the coming days, Total will have to start the exploration work in the Qana field, as promised, to make up for the years that have passed without being able to extract oil and gas, at a time when Israel was continuing its exploration and extraction operations, which caused an imbalance in the balances. oil."
President Aoun reviewed the stages that the demarcation file has gone through since 2010 until today, with all the domestic and external obstacles and difficulties that it faced, and the obstacles that were placed in it for political reasons, noting that simultaneously, Lebanon had to activate the process of demarcating its maritime borders, especially the southern Including, and correcting errors that occurred in the demarcation with Cyprus.
He declared that the "next step" should be to hold talks with Syria to resolve the disputed area with it, which is more than 900 square kilometers, through brotherly discussions.
The borders drawn with Cyprus should also be reviewed and what should be done in the future.
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