The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken stressed the need to hold elections in Libya as soon as possible, in order to form a legitimate government.
This was during a press conference in Athens with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias.
Blinken noted the UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily is working on securing elections. “Bathily is trying to bring together the parties in order to agree to achieve them,” he added.
On the other hand, Blinken said that “Greece and Turkey are allies of the United States, and Washington continues to engage with them in NATO; to resolve any differences between them.” He stressed that “neither country should take any unilateral measures to resolve these differences.”
For his part, Dendias explained that the maritime MoU signed between Turkey and Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) “has no value in the Mediterranean.”
He added that “Greek foreign policy is based on the full application of the rules of international law, the law of the sea, and on respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter.”
Last month, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu said that GNU told Turkey “not to take seriously” a court ruling that suspended an energy exploration deal that the Tripoli government signed with Ankara last year, according to Reuters.
The Tripoli Court of Appeal ruled to suspend the implementation of the Libyan-Turkish memorandum of understanding, on oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean.
In October, 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.
On 10 February 2022, the Libyan Parliament announced the unanimous appointment of Fathi Bashagha as the new Prime Minister. But Dbaiba warned that the appointment of a new interim government could lead to war and chaos in the country. He renewed his pledge to only hand power over to an elected government.
