Libya: Greece announces the reopening of its embassy in Tripoli

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, August 29, 2019. AFP / Lehtikuva / Markki Ulander

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In the wake of the surprise appointment of businessman Abdel Hamid Dbeibah as Libyan Prime Minister, Greece announced the immediate reopening of its embassy in Tripoli.

A Greek consulate is also expected to resume functioning in Benghazi, in northeastern Libya.

This diplomatic presence could mark a political warming between two countries whose relations have been affected by the tensions between Athens and Ankara. 

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With our correspondent in Athens,

Joël Bronner

It was in July 2014 that the Greek embassy - like many foreign diplomatic representations - closed its doors in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

At the time, a new civil war had just broken out, causing growing insecurity in a country that has never been truly stable since the fall of the authoritarian regime of Colonel Gaddafi three years earlier. 

Instability then continued on Libyan territory between the Government of National Unity in place in Tripoli, supported in particular by Turkey, and the forces of Marshal Haftar, a strong man from the east of the country, who also claimed power and who can count on the support of Greece, among others. 

At the end of 2019, the conclusion of an agreement on maritime borders between

Tripoli and Ankara

aroused the anger of Athens, which, because of the border disputes it had with Turkey,

then expelled the Libyan ambassador

present in Greece.

The announced reopening of the Greek embassy in Libya may now be the start of some political normalization between the two countries. 

► See also: Abdel Hamid Dbeibah elected Transitional Prime Minister in Libya

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