Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry said that Libya’s “outgoing” Government of National Unity (GNU) has “lacked legitimacy since 24 December, and has no right to sign international agreements.”
During a press conference with this Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, Egypt’s FM urged the United Nations to announce its position on the legitimacy of the outgoing Libyan government. “We confirm the necessity of holding elections in Libya, and supporting the efforts of the Libyan Parliament,” he added.
For his part, Dendias referred to the memorandums of understanding between Turkey and the GNU, stressing that the MoU was illegal.
Dendias arrived in Egypt on Sunday to hold talks on the recently signed deal.
Last week, Libya and Turkey signed a series of economic agreements that included potential energy exploration in maritime areas.
The agreements will allow for oil and gas exploration in Libyan waters and come three years after the two countries signed a maritime border deal, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said after signing the MoU in Tripoli.
The Greek Foreign Ministry has said in a statement that it is following developments in Libya very closely, “especially Monday’s signing of a ‘memorandum of cooperation’ between the Libyan GNU and Turkey in the field of hydrocarbons. “
The Egypt-Greece statement added that Greece “holds sovereign rights in the area, which it intends to defend by all legal means, in full respect to the International Law of the Sea.”
Recently, Egypt denounced the memorandum of understanding on energy between Turkey and Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), headed by Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba.
Spokesman for the Egypt Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Hafez said in press statements that the “outgoing government in Libya does not have the authority to conclude any international agreements or memoranda of understanding.”