Diplomatic incident in Libya: Attempt to strongarm Greece comes to naught

Nothing came of the attempt of the transitional government of Libya, the sole responsibility of which is to hold elections in the country, to set a trap for Nikos Dendias with the aim of a photo opportunity of him with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Najla Mangoush.

Despite the fact that the term of office of the Government of National Accord based in Tripoli has expired, last October it signed a preliminary agreement with Turkey for energy research, as a continuation of the Turkish-Libyan memorandum that was sealed in November 2019.

Tripoli’s aim was, through the joint presence of the two ministers, to imply that Greece recognizes the international status of the government that a few weeks ago put into effect the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum, with Ms. Mangoush being the one who signed a series of agreements a few weeks ago with Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Najla Mangoush

It is worth noting that the fact that the interim government of Libya does not have the right to sign international agreements such as the Turkish-Libyan memorandum and has not only been denounced by Greece and Egypt, but also by France, the USA, the EU and the UN security council.

Dendias avoids the trap

It was Thursday morning when the Greek government aircraft was flying over Tripoli, Libya, where it would land in order to meet with the head of the country’s three-member Presidential Council and former Libyan ambassador to Athens (in the period 2018-2019), Mohamed Menfi, as agreed.

However, the Greek Foreign Minister learned that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the interim government of Libya, Najla Mangoush, was waiting for him at the airport.

Nikos Dendias refused to get off the plane, which remained on the runway for about an hour and a half. The Greek foreign minister’s meeting with the head of Libya’s elected National Council was cancelled, with Mohamed Menfi expressing his displeasure at Mangoush’s move.

“The caretaker government’s foreign minister, Ms. Najla Mangoush, tried to force me at the airport to meet with her, so I cut short the visit to Tripoli,” the foreign minister said.

The Foreign Minister of the Libyan transitional Government tried to force her presence at the airport so that I would have to meet with her. As a result, I cut short my visit to Tripoli and departed for Benghazi, where I outlined 🇬🇷 positions (statement in Benghazi, 🇱🇾). pic.twitter.com/HvXWb7NsBK

— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) November 17, 2022

Hazing

Dibeiba’s government, however, continued the provocations as it canceled Nikos Dendias’ planned flight to Benghazi, causing the aircraft to enter Malta’s FIR and from there to eastern Libya, where it landed at around 10am .

In Benghazi, the Greek foreign minister met with the head of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, with the marshal condemning the Turkish-Libyan memorandum and expressing his dismay at Turkish influence in the Tripoli government. He later informed MPs and members of the House of Representatives about the absurd Turkish complaints.

As Mr. Dendias said “I had the opportunity to explain the Greek positions and in fact experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave them details on International Law and the International Law of the Sea”.

#BREAKING
Greek FM Nikos Dendias: We will begin EEZ delimitation talks with the Libyan gov that will emerge after the elections & I believe we will reach an agreement relatively quickly. However, the current Libyan government has only one obligation: to take Libya to elections. pic.twitter.com/APZ5v6V31O

— Libya Review (@LibyaReview) November 17, 2022

Tripoli and Turkey react

The steadfastness of the Greek Foreign Minister caused the angry reaction of Tripoli as its plans were dashed.

After the diplomatic incident, the provisional government recalled its envoy to Athens for consultations. Libyan National Unity spokesman Mohamed Hammoud told Anadolu Agency that the decision was made in response to Nikos Dendias’ stance.

Earlier, with an announcement by the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the diplomatic incident that occurred during the visit of Nikos Dendias to the country, emphasized: “we condemn and we will react”.

According to the “Libya Review” website, the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that “Nikos Dendias arrived in Tripoli but refused to get off the plane and shortly after decided to leave. Foreign Minister Najla Al-Mangoush was waiting to welcome him.” In fact, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that “we condemn this act and will take action”.

It is also indicative that the Libyan reactions were transmitted to the Turkish media – as Ankara would like to comment on the Dendias – Mangoush meeting as an indirect recognition of the Turkish-Libyan memorandum by Greece. However, this did not happen.

Nikos Dendias’ avoidance of the trap that Tripoli’s transitional government tried to set, besides proving Greece’s vigilance and reflexes, was also a very clear message from Athens that no one can play games with Greece, force situations, to attempt to achieve faits accomplis, let alone proceeding without consequence to agreements for which it has no authority and through which it is manifest that Ankara seeks to challenge Greek  sovereign rights.