Greece has formally rejected Libya’s maritime claims in a direct letter to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and in a diplomatic note sent to the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, intensifying a long-standing dispute over offshore energy rights in the Eastern Mediterranean.
According to the Greek daily Kathimerini, Athens declared that Libya’s positions “lack any legal basis” and reaffirmed what it described as Greece’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf and resources in the contested areas. Greece stressed that its declared offshore blocks, located south of the Peloponnese and Crete, fall entirely under Greek jurisdiction in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Athens noted that these maritime zones have been officially published in EU bulletins and Greek national gazettes since 2014 without any objection from Libya at the time.
In its message to Tripoli, Greece also announced the creation of a technical committee led by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou to resume long-suspended talks on delimiting the two countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones, negotiations that have been stalled since 2011.
The Greek government rejected Libya’s reference to what it called a “border line” between the two nations, describing it as legally baseless and a violation of UNCLOS.
It also strongly criticised the 2019 maritime memorandum of understanding between Turkey and Libya for ignoring the presence of Greek islands such as Crete and the Dodecanese, insisting that the agreement has no legal effect under international law.
Athens reminded the UN that in the absence of a formal boundary agreement, the median line, equidistant from the nearest land, remains the appropriate maritime boundary. The letter also challenged Libya’s 2005 straight baselines and the closure of the Gulf of Sirte, calling these measures illegal under maritime law.
The Greek–Libyan dispute is part of a wider regional contest over energy exploration rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, where large offshore gas finds have fuelled tensions between Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and Libya.
The 2019 Libya-Turkey deal prompted sharp protests from Athens and the EU, with Greece expelling the Libyan ambassador at the time. The overlapping exploration licences and drilling plans that followed have deepened the standoff, with the latest Greek rejection signalling that a resolution remains far from reach.
