Phnom Penh: Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Jean-François Sartain, said on June 5 that the mechanism of forced reconciliation regarding the maritime boundary with Thailand is the best peaceful path.
Through the social networking site Facebook, Jean-François Sartain said that from the beginning, Cambodia, which through its bitter experience clearly understands that “conflicts cannot end with war,” has always adhered to its position.
He said that since December 2025, due to the invasion and occupation of some Cambodian territories along the border with the aim of swallowing those territories, Cambodia declares that it will not accept any change or redrawing of the border by force or by creating a de facto situation.
He added that Cambodia has always called on Thailand to allow its border technical team to return to work on redefining the location of the border posts with the Cambodian technical team. Even though there has been no resumption of the JBC meeting.
Furthermore, regarding the maritime boundary issue, His Excellency highlighted that, in order to resolve the dispute regarding overlapping claims by Cambodia and Thailand, Cambodia has officially initiated and is continuing to use the forced conciliation mechanism under UNCLOS since 2 June 2026. In this regard, His Excellency reiterated that this is due to the Thai side’s unilateral withdrawal from the MoU2001, which is the only bilateral framework between Cambodia and Thailand in the last 25 years.
The Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in Charge of Foreign Affairs emphasized that Cambodia believes that this forced conciliation mechanism is the best peaceful path that will lead to a just solution for the Cambodian-Thailand dispute parties in the maritime issue.
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