The attempt to blackmail Greece, with the diplomatic incident during Nikos Dendias' visit to Libya, seems to have been only the beginning for the country's transitional government, whose sole responsibility is to hold elections.

Adopting the Turkish tactic of provocation, the Foreign Ministry of the National Unity Government in Tripoli is reportedly ready to lodge a protest against Greece's exploration for hydrocarbons southwest of Crete.

It considers these areas disputed on the basis of the illegal Turkish-Colombian Memorandum, which has been denounced by Greece, Egypt, France, the USA, the EU and the UN Security Council.

«Diplomatic means»

According to Libyan media, Foreign Minister Nyla Mangus claimed that Greece is «exploiting the crisis in Libya by creating a fait accompli and defining maritime borders».

Indeed, it is stated that Tripoli «will proceed to defend Libya's maritime borders and sovereign rights in its maritime areas with all possible legal and diplomatic means».

The Greek Foreign Ministry has no relevant information at the moment.

«Irresponsible investigations»

More specifically, the Foreign Ministry of the Tripoli government, in its statement, regrets «the irresponsible actions of Greece, which has entrusted to some international oil companies the conduct of natural gas exploration in areas south and southwest of Crete, which are however disputed».

The Libyan Foreign Ministry says that following the confirmation of information about the start of investigations by the Sanco Swift vessel on behalf of foreign companies that have signed contracts with Greece, it will «proceed to defend Libya's maritime borders and sovereign rights in its maritime areas with all possible legal and diplomatic means».

It is noted that despite the fact that the term of the National Unity Government has expired last October, it signed a preliminary agreement with Turkey for energy exploration, as a continuation of the Turkish-Colombian memorandum that was sealed in November 2019.

Action for the annulment of the Turcolivian Memorandum

The development comes after the appeal against the Turkish-Colombian memorandum, which Athens stresses «violates Greece's sovereign rights, is a violation of international law and a deliberate escalation that undermines stability in the region».

Five Libyan lawyers have appealed to the competent court in Tripoli against the recent memorandum signed by the interim government of Abdelhamid Dbayba and Turkey.

The petition seeks the annulment of the memorandum, with a number of arguments, such as that the Dbeiba government has no legal authority to enter into international agreements, the agreement is called a memorandum of understanding, but it is an economic oil agreement, the agreement violates many provisions of the Petroleum Law, most notably the lack of experience of Turkish companies in this field.

At the same time, the lawyers filed an application for an interim injunction for its immediate suspension because it «illegally usurped from the Libyan national oil company its exclusive jurisdiction to trade oil and contains texts that require different interpretations, causing serious harm that cannot be remedied if Turkey starts implementing the agreement.».