Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis is visiting Benghazi, Libya, where he is scheduled to meet with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, today Sunday, July 6. On Tuesday, July 15, Gerapetritis will travel to Tripoli for meetings with officials from the internationally recognized government.
At the forefront of the minister’s agenda are the bilateral relations between Greece and Libya, as well as the urgent need to initiate discussions on the delimitation of maritime zones. These talks come in the shadow of the controversial Turkish-Libyan memorandum of understanding, which Athens deems illegal and void, insisting it has no legal standing under international law.
Speaking in Parliament ahead of his trip, Gerapetritis reaffirmed Greece’s longstanding support for good-neighborly relations with Libya. He reiterated Greece’s invitation to Libya to engage in dialogue over maritime boundaries and stressed that any eventual agreement must be based exclusively on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Turkish-Libyan MoU “Null and Void,” Says Athens
“The memorandum between Libya and Turkey has no validity,” Gerapetritis said, explaining that “Libya and Turkey do not have opposite coastlines that would justify a maritime boundary or an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) agreement between them.” He emphasized that the memorandum is “fundamentally incompatible with international law, regardless of how many sign or ratify it.”
The Greek foreign minister emphasized Greece’s diplomatic efforts in Libya, noting recent reinforcements to its embassy in Tripoli and consulate in Benghazi as part of a balanced strategy in a politically unstable country.
Gerapetritis also pointed out that the European Council conclusions include a specific reference to Libya, explicitly rejecting the Turkish-Libyan memorandum as invalid.
The Controversial Maritime Agreement
In 2022, Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli-based government signed a memorandum of cooperation aimed at exploiting maritime zones and the resources within them. Greece has strongly opposed the deal, arguing that it violates international maritime law and encroaches on Greek sovereign rights.
Athens has formally raised the issue with the United Nations, asserting that Greece “reserves all its rights under international law” and calling on both Libya and Turkey to respect its sovereignty.
In response to the Turkish-Libyan pact that year, Greece and Egypt signed an agreement aligning their search and rescue zones with the Athens and Cairo FIRs, countering the Turkish-Libyan deal with a new regional framework. They also signed a separate EEZ delimitation agreement, reinforcing their maritime cooperation and opposition to the memorandum.
Source: Tovima.com
