• Contact Us
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
Friday, February 3, 2023
National Tribune
SUBSCRIBE
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Science
  • Health
  • Opinion
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Science
  • Health
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
National Tribune
No Result
View All Result
Home Berlin

En route to Berlin, Haftar holds talks with top Greek officials

by Associated News
January 18, 2020
in Berlin, route, U.S. News
0
En route to Berlin, Haftar holds talks with top Greek officials
0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Athens, Greece – Angered by its exclusion in Libyan peace talks to be held on Sunday in the German capital, Greece scored a diplomatic win when Libyan renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar paid an unexpected visit to Athens, on his way to the UN-sponsored talks in Berlin.
Greece asked to be included in the Berlin Process, as the event is called, saying it has vital interests at stake.
More:

Libya’s Haftar secretly flies to Greece ahead of Berlin summit

Libya’s Haftar leaves Moscow without signing ceasefire agreement

Erdogan would not refrain from ‘teaching a lesson’ to Haftar

The Council of Ministers in Tripoli signed a maritime jurisdiction agreement with Turkey last year that claims waters Greece also sees as part of its own jurisdiction.
Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), based in Benghazi, is at war with the UN-recognised Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj, based in Tripoli.
Nikos Dendias, Greek foreign minister, said Haftar on Friday agreed that a ceasefire deal had to recognise “the invalidity of the illegal memoranda between Turkey and the Sarraj government”.
The Greek government says Haftar has committed to negotiating a new maritime deal with Greece.
“Since we are not [at the Berlin talks], we expect Germany, the host country, to be the guardian of the European position on Libyan matters,” Dendias said. 
The Berlin Process began in 2015, when Greece was out of favour in Europe.
That was when the left-wing Syriza government faced down its European creditors, insisting on better terms of repayment of 195 billion euros ($216bn) in emergency loans.
The European Union denounced the Turkish-Libyan deal in December and issued a strong statement in Greece’s favour.
The agreement “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states, does not comply with the Law of the Sea and cannot produce any legal consequences for third States,” the EU summit conclusions said.

Russia, the United States, Israel and Egypt also denounced the deal at the time, saying it raises tensions in the eastern Mediterranean. 
Germany has invited several other EU members, Gulf states, the US, Russia and China to attend talks, but refused to divulge why it did not invite Greece.
Haftar also met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has threatened to veto any peace agreement that displeases Greece. 
“I want to be clear. Greece will never accept a political solution for Libya that doesn’t scrap the illegal ‘Turkey-Libya memorandum of understanding’,” Mitsotakis tweeted on Thursday.
“We will veto it before it reaches the Summit. We will veto it at the foreign minister level.”
It was unclear whether Greece would enjoy any opportunity to veto a UN peace agreement on Libya.
“If there is a peace agreement on Libya and Germany brings it to the European Union for ratification, that is when Greece could have an opportunity to exercise a veto,” international relations expert Kostas Yfantis told Al Jazeera.
Mitsotakis also spoke on the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“He asked Ms. Merkel and other EU representatives present at the talks to implement the decision of the last European Council,” his office said, a reference to the denunciation of the Libya-Turkey agreement.
Greek-Turkish conflict simmers
Greek-Turkish acrimony over maritime jurisdiction goes back to 1973 when Greece discovered oil in the north Aegean.
The two countries nearly came to war when Turkey sent a state exploration vessel, the Sismik, into north Aegean waters in 1987. 
The stage is now set for a similar confrontation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the state exploration vessel, Uruc Reis, would this year begin to conduct seismic tests in the Turkish portion of the maritime jurisdiction agreement struck with Tripoli.
Turkish vessels have already spent a year looking for oil and gas in waters claimed by EU member Cyprus. The EU and the US have called those explorations “illegal”.
“The European Council unequivocally reaffirms its solidarity with Greece and Cyprus regarding these actions by Turkey,” the EU said last month, in reference to Turkish explorations offshore Cyprus.
Unlike Cyprus, however, Greece has not agreed its maritime jurisdiction with neighbours Albania, Italy, Libya, Egypt, Cyprus and Turkey.
Continue Reading…

Tags: Berlinroute
Associated News

Associated News

Next Post
Could UAE nuclear reactors imperil the Gulf?

Could UAE nuclear reactors imperil the Gulf?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Mining State Western Australia to Legislate Net-Zero by 2050

Mining State Western Australia to Legislate Net-Zero by 2050 | NationalTribune.com

1 week ago
Webb Space Telescope Spots Early Galaxies Hidden From Hubble

Webb Space Telescope Spots Early Galaxies Hidden From Hubble | NationalTribune.com

2 months ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    NationalTribune Logo

    About Us

    National Tribune is an independent newspaper and publishing company owned by the National Tribune Company, formed in 1877 in Washington, D.C.

    • World
    • Business
    • Politics
    • Science
    • Health
    • Opinion
    • Help
    • About Us
    • Subscriptions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Corporate
    • Terms Of Service
    • GDPR

    Connect With us

    • Contact Us

    © 2022 NationalTribune.com

    No Result
    View All Result
    • About
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Home
    • Home 1
    • Home 2
    • Home 3
    • Home 4
    • Home 5
    • Homepage
    • Homepage
    • Investor Relations
    • Log In
    • Member Directory
    • My Account
    • My Profile
    • News
    • Privacy Policy
    • Reset Password
    • Sign Up
    • We’re Hiring

    © 2022 NationalTribune.com

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In