“Greece is not trying, unlike other countries in the region, to turn back time and turn Libya into a de facto colony of foreign interests.” said, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, in the joint statements with his Libyan counterpart Najla Mangoush after their meeting today in Athens.
“We do not want anything that will not have the acceptance and support of the Libyan people, of the Libyan society. “We do not want to impose any illegal agreement on Libya, like the agreement with Turkey that the Libyan parliament itself has rejected. The prevalence of extreme ideologies in a country so close to Europe and Greece that does not embrace our values is something extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, extremist ideologies are spreading in the world today.
GREECE IS BACK IN LIBYA
So we have a moral duty to help Libya. We were one of the first countries to reopen its embassy in Tripoli last February. We were the first country to open a consulate general in Benghazi. In fact, we reopened it, because we had to close it in 1998. “
Addressing his Libyan counterpart, Nikos Dendias suggested that he will ask Josep Borrell to invite Najla Mangoush to a dinner at the EU Foreign Ministry so she can explain the challenges that the Libyan government is facing.
LIBYAN ELECTIONS
Regarding the elections scheduled in Libya for December, the Greek FM said “We hope that a representative government will be able to emerge in Libya to free itself from the burdens of the past, such as the invalid, non-existent and illegal” Turkish-Libyan memorandum”. A “memorandum” that, apart from the international community, is not accepted by the Libyan Parliament either.
We say it is a legal paradox, a legal absurdum that ignores any notion of international law and the law of the sea. It ignores common sense and ignores geography. But in order for elections to be held, my colleague, I think that all foreign troops, all paramilitary, all mercenary forces must be removed from your country. There should be no foreign military presence. ” Nikos Dendias stated in his meeting in Athens with Libyan Foreign Minister
