It is the political spite that procrastinates the demarcation of Lebanon’s marine borders with Syria. Some Lebanese parties have been stubbornly rejecting the direct talks with the Syrian side.
Lebanon decided in 2011 to demarcate its marine borders; however, some Lebanese parties have rejected to the direct talks with the Syrian authorities for this purpose.
Syria has recently signed a contract with a Russian firm to excavate its offshore oil resources, but the Lebanese rejection of the direct talks left a technical inconsistency in the marine border demarcation.
The unilateral demarcation of the two sides of the overlapping marine borders left a disputable zone (between Lebanon’s blocks 1 and 2 and Syria’s block 1) which is estimated to be 750 square kilometers.
The former foreign minister, MP Gebran Bassil, revealed that, between 2010 and 2017, he sent 20 official letters to the competent authorities in order to urge them to address this issue by holding direct talks with the Syrian officials, adding that all his letters went unanswered.
In brief, the whole issue can be addressed in few meetings between the competent authorities in Lebanon and Syria; however, some Lebanese political parties have different considerations.
Source: Al-Manar English Website