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The Libyan ambassador to Athens has just borne the brunt of growing tensions between Greece and Turkey. From this Friday, the diplomat has 72 hours to leave the country.
With our correspondent in Athens, Luc Bronner
Greece announced on Friday, December 6, the expulsion of the Libyan ambassador to Athens, Tripoli has not revealed as the Greek government required the content of a controversial agreement with Turkey maritime delimitation, signed last week . Signed in late November, this memorandum between Turkey and Libya, which includes the maritime boundaries between the two countries, set fire to the powder.
" The Libyan ambassador was summoned to the ministry this morning and informed of his deportation ," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said " regretfully " to the media. He was given 72 hours to leave Greece, he said, adding that " his deportation did not mean the end of diplomatic relations with Libya ".
Oil and gas deposits
Greece, like Egypt and Cyprus, considers this agreement contrary to international law, arguing in particular that there is no border between Libya and Turkey.
These countries are especially afraid that Ankara will rely on the agreement to conduct new drilling at sea, drilling that they consider illegal. The bottom line is that oil and gas fields have been discovered in recent years off the island of Cyprus. The appetite of the many countries bordering the eastern Mediterranean are sharpening.
At the same time, the daily arrivals of migrants and asylum-seekers to the Greek islands from Turkey are also contributing to a growing climate of tension between Athens and Ankara.