Greece’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Evangelos Sekeri expressed Athens’ “complete opposition to Libya’s demands regarding the limits of its maritime zones.”
In a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, Sekeris claimed that the eastern maritime border of Libya “violates the Greek exclusive economic zone,” according to Greek newsite, Kathimerini.
Greece and Egypt signed an agreement for the delimitation of the EEZ between the two countries, on 6 August 2020. Tripoli in turn rejected that agreement.
Sekeris reiterated that the 2019 Turkish-Libyan maritime borders memorandum “is illegal and invalid in terms of international law.” He noted that the Libyan political agreement of 2015, which also requires ratification by the country’s Parliament, has not allowed that.
“These claims on the part of Libya are in flagrant violation of international law, and pose a threat to peace and stability in the Mediterranean,” the Greek diplomat said in the letter.
“While reserving all its rights under international law, Greece remains firmly committed to resolving any delimitation issue with neighbouring countries in the eastern Mediterranean by peaceful means, in good faith, and in accordance with the law of the sea, as it has already done with Italy and Egypt,” he added.
In October 2022, 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.
Greece notified the UN Secretary-General that the current Libyan government in Tripoli has no right to proceed with any agreement that binds subsequent, democratically elected governments.
In December 2022, the Libyan Foreign Ministry denounced Greece’s “irresponsible acts” in the Mediterranean. It added that “it will continue to defend Libya’s maritime borders with all possible legal and diplomatic means.”
“Greece is working hard to exploit the Libyan crisis and impose a fait accompli in defining the Libyan-Greek maritime borders,” the statement noted.
Meanwhile, Çavuşoğlu said in December that Ankara, along with the Tripoli-based government in Libya, had moved together to protest against seismic surveys and drilling that Greece plans to carry out south of Crete.