The United States (US) Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, have voiced in a joint press conference their countries’ readiness to provide any needed assistance to open the way for holding elections in Libya.
Blinken said, according to the website of the US Department of State, that “when it comes to Libya and its trajectory forward, I think it’s important to get to elections as quickly as reasonably possible to have a government that has the legitimacy of having been selected by the people.”
He also indicated that the UN special envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily, is working in the direction of fulfilling elections, and building on the work that’s actually been done already to try to bring the parties together to decide on an appropriate path forward for the vote.
Blinken reiterated that Washington supports Bathily’s efforts, as they offer the best prospects for moving Libya forward, adding that the US is in full agreement on that with its partners, including Greece.
Regarding the Libyan-turkish MoU in gas exploration and production, the Greek Foreign Minister told reporters that the MoU “adds no value, on the contrary, it’s totally illegal, therefore unsubstantiated, unfounded.”
Libya signed an MoU with Turkey in October 2022 related to oil and gas exploration through Turkish companies, sparking Greece’s rejection, just like that made against the previous MoU related to the demarcation of the borders between Libya and Turkey, which was signed three years ago.
