Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias spoke by telephone on Monday 3/10 with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry regarding recent developments in Libya.
Both sides, according to diplomatic sources, questioned the legitimacy of the Libyan national unity government to sign this memorandum of understanding with Turkey. It was also agreed that the Greek Foreign Minister would go to Cairo for consultations next Sunday.
MFA: Greece has sovereign rights in the region which it will defend with all legal means
Greece is following developments in Libya very closely, especially today's signing of a «memorandum of understanding» between the Government of National Unity (GNU) of Libya and Turkey in the hydrocarbons sector, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
It is also stated that Greece has sovereign rights in the region, which it intends to defend by all legal means, with full respect for the International Law of the Sea.
It is recalled that Greece has made a delimitation of its EEZ with Egypt, an agreement which has been concluded with respect to the International Law of the Sea.
At the same time, it is underlined that Greece retains, as stipulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the right ipso facto et ad initio to a continental shelf, which, in the absence of a bilateral agreement, is defined by the median line.
Finally, it is noted that the Turkish-Libyan «memorandum» of 2019 is illegal, invalid and unsubstantiated. Therefore, no one has any right to invoke it. Any reference or action in implementation of this «memorandum» will be de facto illegal and, depending on its gravity, there will be a reaction both bilaterally and at the level of the European Union and NATO.
In this context, Greece will continue to inform its partners and allies about Turkey's destabilizing role.
In addition, it welcomes the statements of the President, as well as the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the Libyan House of Representatives, regarding the invalidity and lack of legitimacy of the Memorandum signed today in Tripoli.
N. Dendias meets with the US Ambassador on developments in Libya
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met with US Ambassador to Greece George Tsounis. During the meeting, the Foreign Minister and the US Ambassador discussed the latest developments in Libya, as Dendias said in a Twitter post.
Dimitris Manolis
