Athens hails extension of UN mission to Libya

Greek diplomatic sources have welcomed a decision by the UN Security Council to extend the mandate of the UN mission to Libya – known as UNSMIL – for a year until 31 October 2023. 

The extension was authorized on Friday by Resolution 2656, marking the first substantive renewal of UNSMIL’s mandate since September 2021.

According to the sources, the resolution includes a reference to the roadmap agreed by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), which stipulates that the North African country’s preliminary government cannot sign new agreements that disrupt the state’s external relations or entail long-term obligations. 

This would affect the memorandum of understanding on exploration for hydrocarbons in Libya’s territorial waters and on Libyan soil, which was signed in early October between Turkey and the Tripoli-based government, the sources said. The deal followed a highly contentious agreement Turkey signed with authorities in Tripoli in 2019, which demarcated the countries’ shared maritime borders.