By Sami Haddad
In April 2021 Last year Lebanese President Michel Aoun reportedly phoned Syria’s Bashar al-Assad to discuss the demarcation of Lebanon-Syria maritime borders, according to former Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe.
Aoun’s call came after a Russian oil company signed an agreement with Syria for exploration in the Mediterranean Sea in an area that is claimed by Lebanon in its 2011 border demarcation decree
Assad ratified the contract with Petrozavodsk-based Capital Oil in March 2021 , under a contract initially drawn up in April 2020.
However, 750 square kilometers of the area assigned for exploration is in the Lebanese economic waters.
Lebanon demarcated its exclusive economic zone in 2011 through Decree No. 6433, which was sent to the United Nations.
Syria objected to the unilateral Lebanese demarcation in the north, sending a protest letter to the UN in 2014.
Since then, the two countries have failed to resolve the dispute, despite Russia proposing itself as a mediator between the two countries in 2019.
Illegal claim
Diana Kaissy, executive director of the Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative (LOGI), told Middle East Eye in April 2021 that Damascus’ complaint was made on an illegal basis, as Syria is not a signatory country of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Although the maritime border dispute between Lebanon and Syria has been politicized in Lebanon, experts agree it can be solved on a technical basis.
According to analysts , the problem for Lebanon is that president Aoun’s key ally the Iranian backed Hezbollah is a staunch ally of the Syrian regime . Ever since Aoun was elected in 2016 Hezbollah has been running the show in Lebanon since it has been in control of all the 3 top branches of government .
Technical Issue
For Marc Ayoub, an assistant researcher on energy policy and security at the American University of Beirut, the dispute is purely a technical issue.
Syria and Lebanon have had problems demarcation their Land border ever since Lebanon gained its independence in 1943. .Many border areas are like no man’s land and are used for smuggling between the 2 countries
The maritime border demarcation with Syria affects blocs no 1 and 2 which will be explored under the new Russian Syrian contract
According to reports , the Syrian side grabbed a Lebanese area of 750 square kilometers from Block No. 1 alone, where the Russian exploration process will begin.
Both Lebanon and Syria have a huge interest in the oil and gas resources to be found in the East Mediterranean Sea, although neither are sure about the real extent of the oil and gas resources in the Levantine Basin
Russia’s strategy
Russian interests in the Eastern Mediterranean’s oil and gas resources can be explained at a geopolitical level.
Syrian economic expert and researcher Younes Alkarim was quoted as saying by MEE “ Russia aims to control the Eastern Mediterranean waterfront by minimizing any competition from rival gas pipelines, like the proposed Friendship Pipeline between Iran, Iraq and Syria, or any other projects in the region.
All the attention of the Lebanese officials and the media have been focused on the indirect negotiations with Israel over southern maritime border demarcation
Not one word has been written or said in the media about the northern border demarcation ever since April 2021
Patriarch Beshara Al Rai , an outspoken critic of Hezbollah raised the issue of all border demarcations in his Sunday mass as he was commenting about the upcoming Lebanese presidential election and outlining the type of president Lebanon needs right now.
He said that the new president should also demarcate all the Lebanese borders with all the surrounding countries . Syria is the only country other than Israel that borders Lebanon
As Lebanon and Israel inch closer to signing the southern Lebanese maritime border demarcation , the question on the minds of the Lebanese people is: Who is going to fight for Lebnon’s rights in northern Lebanese maritime border demarcation?
Will the media finally address the issue
One analyst told me : “Unfortunately the Lebanese media is not free and focuses most of its attention on trivial matters, gossip and conspiracy theories “
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