Berlin: Greece ‘not bound’ by Turkey-Libya agreement

Greece is “not bound” by any agreement that is made by two other parties at its expense, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christopher Burger said on Wednesday, commenting on memorandum on fossil-fuel exploration signed by Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli government on October 3. 

Burger said that one of the principles of international law is that it is not possible for two states to enter into a deal at the expense of a third country. “If, in this case, two states enter into an agreement at the expense of Greece, then in all cases Greece is not bound by it and, in this sense, it has no legal effect,” he noted.

The spokesperson said he would have to return to the issue after a detailed assessment of the latest step .

Libya’s Tripoli government signed a series of preliminary economic agreements with Turkey on Monday that included potential energy exploration in maritime areas, but Libya’s eastern-based parliament rejected the move.

It was not immediately clear whether any concrete deals to emerge would include exploration in the “exclusive economic zone” which Turkey and a previous Tripoli government agreed in 2019, angering other eastern Mediterranean states.

That zone envisaged the two countries sharing a maritime border but was attacked by Greece and Cyprus and criticised by Egypt and Israel.

[AMNA, Reuters]