OUR Hellas wants to talk to her Libyasaid the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendiasconcluding his visit to Benghazi, “but with a government that will emerge as a result of the elections and represent the real will of the Libyan people,” he stressed.

“Greece will indeed start negotiations with this government, and I believe that we will come to a conclusion relatively quickly, because the issue is quite clear,” said Mr. country to fast elections.

As Mr. Dendias noted, the visit to Libya, as planned, began from Tripoli, where he was going to meet with President Menfi. “But the foreign minister of the interim government tried to force me to meet her with her presence at the airport, as a result of which I interrupted my trip to Tripoli and flew to Benghazi, where the program was being carried out,” he said. noted.

First of all, as he noted, the ceremony of delivering 30,000 vaccines took place, and then another 200,000, which we sent to Libya. Then a meeting with Marshal Haftar, who repeated his well-known positions on the Turkish-Libyan “memorandum” and on the Turkish presence in Libya.

He then held a meeting with deputies and members of the House of Representatives, where he had the opportunity to explain to them the position of Greece. “In fact, the Foreign Ministry specialists gave them details on international law and international maritime law,” he stressed.

“In addition, I had the opportunity to attend the ceremony at the port of Benghazi, where Greece is assisting in the opening of the port. The port of Benghazi is extremely important, it is used not only to transport goods to Benghazi itself, but also to transport humanitarian aid to the countries of the Sahel,” he noted and mentioned that Greece provided assistance in two phases to make the port functional again.

OOO #BenghaziI attended an event dedicated to the contribution of Greece to @WFP a project to renovate the city’s port, an important entry point for the delivery of food and humanitarian aid/food aid to the wider region #North Africa & #Sahel. pic.twitter.com/Mlh3cRit7K

— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) November 17, 2022

Mr. Dendias then flew to Tobruk, where he will meet with Akila Saleh, Speaker of the House of Representatives, “so that we can form a common understanding on the issues of the Turkish presence in Libya and the Turkish-Libyan memorandums.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Interim Government of Libya tried to impose on me a meeting with her by its presence at the airport, as a result of which I interrupted my visit to Tripoli and left for Benghazi, where I explained 🇬🇷 positions (approval in Benghazi 🇱🇾). pic.twitter.com/zgMZM3hYPw

— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) November 17, 2022

What happened in Tripoli?

Recall that today Nikos Dendias was going to visit Tripoli and then Benghazi in Libya. The condition that was set by Tripoli was to satisfy only the chairman of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi.

But when the plane landed at the capital’s airport, the Foreign Minister of the Tripoli government, Nyla Mangus, was already waiting there, who decided to fly to Benghazi without a meeting.

Ms. Mangus, who is a minister in the Tripoli interim government, signed a Turkish-Libyan agreement with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in October, based on the illegal 2019 Turkish-Libyan “memorandum” that was condemned by the international community.

Flight from Tripoli to Benghazi via Malta

A government plane carrying Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and a Greek delegation left Tripoli for Benghazi via Malta’s FIR.

According to diplomatic sources, the Libyan side refused to approve the plans for the flight of the Greek government aircraft from Tripoli to Benghazi, which led to a long wait for the plane.

It was then decided to fly through Malta’s FIR and from there east into Libyan eastern airspace to head for Benghazi.

A defiant response from the Libyan Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry of the government of the Libyan capital expressed condemnation of the cancellation of the visit of Nikos Dendias to Tripoli, even announcing the adoption of diplomatic measures.

Escalating the provocations, Tripoli recalls its chargé d’affaires in Athens after the diplomatic incident that occurred during the visit of Nikos Dendias.