A visit under… suspension is what Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis is planning to Libya’s Tripoli. Until today, on the eve of its implementation, it remains unknown whether Mr. Gerapetritis will finally travel to Libya’s capital on Tuesday. The official reason for a possible postponement is the security situation in Tripoli as intense riots flood the city’s streets. However, the escalation of tensions between the two countries that occurred after the announcement of the Verbal Note by the Government of National Unity to the UN, puts the head of Greek diplomacy in a difficult position. The Greek diplomatic mission’s trip had as its primary objective the initiation of dialogue with the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity Abdel Hamid Dbeibah regarding the delimitation of the EEZ with a request for the withdrawal of the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, and secondarily the migration issue with the problem being located more in eastern Libya.
Gerapetritis’ meeting schedule in Libya remains unknown
Additionally, the Foreign Minister’s meeting schedule in Tripoli remains unknown, as security reasons do not allow its disclosure. Most likely, however, in the event that the visit will finally take place, he will meet with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Government of National Unity.
Nevertheless, Foreign Ministry sources do not connect the realization or not of the visit with Libya’s Verbal Note to the UN and state that “Tripoli’s action does not add anything to the already expressed argumentation.” They also maintain that Greece will officially respond to Libya through the UN, calling on the neighboring country for discussions on the pending issue of EEZ delimitation. A possibility that the Government of National Unity does not exclude, which now favors resolving Greek-Libyan differences through constructive dialogue and negotiations. It should be noted that in case the two countries do not reach a result, the issue will be referred to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where it will factually rule on the legality of the Turkish-Libyan memorandum.
Yesterday, however, the Foreign Ministry was attempting to downgrade Libya’s new move, with argumentation based primarily on the fact that the Verbal Note was already known since June 20, 2025 “without adding anything new to the already expressed argumentation” as Foreign Ministry sources emphasized. They also referred to Athens’ standing position of rejecting any claim based on the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, which it characterizes as illegal and legally unfounded.
Nevertheless, analysts point out that Libya, with the Verbal Note, appears for the first time to be mapping its claims, disregarding the influence of Greek islands, even Crete, and not accepting the Greek median line as depicted based on law 4001/2011 and which Greece invoked when it drew the plots southwest of Crete.
Libya: Reports of Tripoli government meeting with Chevron – What Turkish press reports
It is worth noting that Libyan media reported that on Thursday at the 9th International OPEC Seminar in Vienna, Austria “The Deputy Minister of Oil and Gas in the Government of National Unity, Khalifa Abdul Sadiq, met with a high-level delegation of American energy giant Chevron to discuss cooperation and investment opportunities in the oil and gas sector and the company’s possible entry into the Libyan market” while the Turkish press almost entirely spoke of a “historic blow” by Libya to Greece.
