Greece’s foreign minister cut short the first leg of a visit to Libya by refusing to get off his plane after landing in the capital Tripoli, Greek authorities said. Instead, he flew to the city of Benghazi, in the east of the country. The Greek foreign ministry said Thursday’s incident – essentially a snub by the Tripoli-based western Libyan administration – was the result of a breach of protocol and agreed terms for the visit. Tensions have risen in the Mediterranean following a controversial preliminary sea and gas deal between Turkey and the Tripoli administration. Libya, which has been mired in turmoil since longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011, has two rival administrations, in the east and west of the country. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was on a two-part trip that was to include a meeting with the president of Libya’s Tripoli-based Western government, Mohammad Younes Menfi. This was to be followed by a meeting in Benghazi with the eastern government. A terse statement from the Greek ministry indicated that Dendias did not want to meet with his Tripoli counterpart, Najla Mangoush, but she came to the airport to greet him. “Mrs. Mangoush tried to impose herself on me by being at the airport to meet her. As a result, I canceled the visit to Tripoli and we flew to Benghazi, where the schedule was kept,” the Greek minister said in the eastern city of Benghazi. There, he handed over three small boxes of coronavirus vaccines and a donation of 550,000 euros ($568,000) for the reconstruction of Benghazi port to the World Food Program. Mohamed Hamouda, a spokesman for the Tripoli-based government, said Mangous’ presence at the airport was part of diplomatic conventions. The tentative Tripoli-Ankara sea and gas deal signed last month has been rejected by both Greece and Egypt, which accuse Turkey of using the deal to try to expand its influence in the Mediterranean. The agreement includes the joint exploration of hydrocarbon reserves in Libyan offshore waters. During a visit to Cairo last month, Dendias said the deal violated Greece’s maritime borders. His Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, said Libya’s western government led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah had no authority to make such deals since its mandate expired after Libya failed to hold national elections last December . Libya’s eastern parliament subsequently appointed a rival prime minister, Fathi Bashagha. Meanwhile, Cairo and Athens have strengthened ties in recent years, including signing new maritime border agreements with Cyprus. Relations between Athens and Ankara have in turn soured, with undersea gas and oil exploration rights a key part of the dispute. Turkey remains a prominent supporter of Dbeibah. In 2019, Turkey signed another controversial maritime border agreement with Tripoli, giving it access to a disputed economic zone in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The agreement ignored the existence of several Greek islands, including Crete, which lies between Turkey and Libya. This reignited Turkey’s pre-existing tensions with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt over oil and gas drilling rights.
