Greece has formally reaffirmed its rejection of the controversial Turkey-Libya maritime agreement in a letter circulated as an official United Nations document, declaring that the recent ratification by Libya’s eastern-based parliament cannot grant legal validity to an agreement Athens considers incompatible with international law.
The letter, dated October 22 and signed by Greece’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Aglaia Balta, was distributed on October 23 as General Assembly document A/81/455. Its publication has renewed attention to the diplomatic dispute following Libya’s decision to approve the 2019 memorandum.
Athens maintains that the agreement, signed on November 27, 2019, disregards the maritime rights of Greek islands and attempts to establish a boundary between Turkey and Libya despite the absence of adjacent or opposite coastlines.
Greece challenges maritime claims and hydrocarbon agreement
In the letter, Balta argues that the memorandum ignores the presence of Crete and the Dodecanese islands, including their entitlement to maritime zones beyond territorial waters under international maritime law. Greece describes the proposed boundary as a distortion of geography and maintains that the memorandum is illegal, invalid and incapable of producing legal consequences for third countries.
Athens further argues that the Libyan parliament’s approval cannot change the agreement’s legal status. It also rejects any subsequent measures based on the maritime coordinates established in the memorandum.
The Greek government separately challenges the October 2022 Turkey-Libya agreement on hydrocarbon exploration, warning that activities conducted under that arrangement would violate international law if they infringed upon Greek sovereign rights or jurisdiction. The letter also disputes Libya’s broader continental shelf claims submitted to the UN in May 2025, describing them as legally unfounded.
Recent diplomatic confrontation draws international attention
The latest intervention follows the October 20 decision by Libya’s House of Representatives, based in Benghazi, to ratify the maritime memorandum after years of opposition. The move was welcomed by Turkey but condemned by Greece, Cyprus and Egypt.
The decision reflected improving relations between Ankara and eastern Libya, whose political leadership had previously rejected the agreement. The European Union subsequently reaffirmed that the memorandum infringes upon third countries’ sovereign rights and cannot produce legal consequences for them.
Tensions escalated on October 29, when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis challenged the agreement during a UN Security Council debate, arguing that maritime boundaries cannot disregard the existence of Greek islands. Turkey rejected his interpretation and defended the agreement’s legality.
Israel has also publicly supported Greece’s position. Israeli Ambassador to Athens Pninat Yanai recently condemned the memorandum, arguing that agreements between two countries cannot undermine the rights of a third state.
The United States adopted a more cautious approach. Following an initial response emphasizing dialogue, the State Department described Libya’s ratification announcement on October 25 as “unhelpful and provocative,” while urging Greece and Turkey to resolve their disagreements through good-faith negotiations.
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