Greece Faces Unified Libyan Front as Haftar Aligns with Turkey
*By Antonis Telopoulos
Greece is confronting a new diplomatic crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean after both Turkey and rival factions in Libya launched coordinated challenges to Athens’ maritime claims, deepening a complex geopolitical standoff that threatens to reignite regional tensions.
In a surprising move, Libya's eastern-based administration under strongman Khalifa Haftar — once considered a potential ally to Greece — issued an official statement condemning Greek energy exploration plans south of Crete.
The statement accused Athens of violating Libyan rights and called for the suspension of an ongoing licensing tender for offshore blocks.
This marks the first time Mr. Haftar’s administration has publicly aligned with the Tripoli government and, by extension, Turkey, which signed a contentious maritime accord with Libya in 2019.
The alignment of both Libyan governments with Ankara casts doubt on Greece’s strategy of balancing regional diplomacy while defending its sovereign rights.
The developments are a direct response to Greece’s recent submission of its first official Maritime Spatial Plan to the European Union’s online platform.
The document outlines the furthest extents of Greece’s potential Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf based on international law, without drawing legally binding boundaries.
In retaliation, Turkey submitted its own maritime plan to UNESCO, its first attempt to internationalize its revisionist “Blue Homeland” doctrine.
The Turkish map, which effectively splits the Aegean Sea in half, includes sweeping territorial claims that disregard the maritime rights of Greek islands, asserting that small islands and islets are not entitled to their own maritime zones.
Greece’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the Turkish submission as legally baseless, vowing to defend its positions in international forums.
Still, the pressure has intensified. The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity joined Turkey in rejecting Greece’s southern Crete exploration zone, claiming it overlaps with the area covered by the 2019 Turkey-Libya memorandum—a deal Greece and the European Union have condemned as illegitimate.
Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis had been preparing a diplomatic visit to Libya in an effort to prevent the Tobruk-based parliament from ratifying the Turkish-Libyan accord.
That effort now appears severely undermined. Despite previously signaling willingness to host the Greek foreign minister, Mr. Haftar’s camp has escalated its stance, leaving Athens exposed to shifting loyalties in Libya’s fractured political landscape.
In Parliament on Monday, Mr. Gerapetritis called Libya’s reaction “predictable” but firmed Greece’s stance, stating the country “does not hesitate to exercise its sovereign rights in practice” and will only engage in dialogue within the framework of international law.
Meanwhile, the Environment and Energy Ministry, speaking through press leaks, reiterated that Athens operates fully within the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and remains open to diplomacy.
Mr. Haftar’s maneuver complicates Athens' assumptions about its regional alliances. Although his administration had maintained cordial ties with Greece and indicated skepticism about the Turkish deal, his latest statement suggests he may be leveraging the situation to gain military and financial concessions from Ankara.
The ambiguity underscores the fragility of Athens’ diplomatic inroads in Libya and increases pressure on the Mitsotakis government to secure firmer backing from reliable partners.
Greece is now considering filing diplomatic protests and legal appeals with international bodies.
It is also moving to deepen ties with Egypt, a key regional ally that has opposed the Turkey-Libya maritime deal and backs Mr. Haftar’s faction militarily.
Whether Mr. Haftar’s shift proves tactical or permanent will shape the next phase of Greek strategy in a region where alliances are fluid and maritime claims are highly combustible.