Government has said Maldives signed the Samoa Agreement between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union (EU) after proposing reservations for articles that are against Islam and the Maldives Constitution.

The Samoa agreement has been criticised for its anti-Islamic elements and a number of violations of the country's constitution.

The Samoa Agreement was approved by the Parliament on Sunday and was signed yesterday at a ceremony held at the OCAPS office in Brussels. On behalf of the Maldives, The Ambassador to Belgium, Geela Ali, signed the agreement.

Government spokesperson Heena Waleed said in a post on X that the Maldives had signed the Samoa Agreement by submitting declarations and reservations for articles that were inconsistent with Islam and the Constitution of the Maldives, and that a total of 12 articles had been submitted declarations and reservations.

"In the past too, the Maldives has signed treaties that have been a part of after submitting reservations to such clauses. I assure you that this government will not allow anything that goes against Islam or the Constitution of the country," Heena said.

One of the things that the Samoa Agreement emphasizes the most is the grant of religious freedom.

The Samoa Agreement reveals the legal framework that the EU and OACPS have set out to work together in six areas of jumal for the next 20 years. The six key areas of the agreement are human rights and democracy, peace and security, development, economic growth, climate change and migration and mobility.

According to the government, the Samoa agreement will allow ocaps member states to have access to the easier access to the eu, which includes 79 OCAPS countries and 27 members of the European Union.