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Greece intensified diplomatic pressure on Libya Wednesday to overturn a contested maritime delimitation agreement with Türkiye, marking the latest effort by Athens to challenge the 2019 deal that has reshaped Eastern Mediterranean boundaries.
The maritime agreement dominated discussions between Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Acting Foreign Minister Taher Salem Al Baour of Libya's Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, according to the Greek Foreign Ministry.
Gerapetritis emphasized "the need to respect International Law, including the International Law of the Sea, and reiterated the Greek and European position regarding the invalid and non-existent Turkish-Libyan memorandum," the ministry said in a statement.
The meeting resulted in both countries agreeing to begin formal proceedings to delimit their own maritime borders, signaling a potential alternative to the existing Türkiye-Libya arrangement.
Libya's state news agency LANA reported that the ministers "exchanged views on the issue of demarcating maritime borders and exclusive economic zones related to the maritime areas adjacent to each other in the Eastern Mediterranean."
The Türkiye-Libya maritime deal, signed in fall 2019, established marine jurisdictions between the two nations while rejecting what both countries characterized as unilateral activities by regional powers and international companies. The United Nations officially registered the agreement in October 2020.
The accord has sparked fierce opposition from Greece, which has consistently denounced the deal as legally void. Athens has systematically pushed Libya to undo the agreement, maintaining what it calls its position based on international maritime law while the Eastern Mediterranean remains contested over potentially lucrative natural gas reserves.
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