“We have two governments one in the east and one in western Libya and we try to balance between the two”
‘We are trying to have a multidimensional and balanced policy in Libyawhich is a difficult country, “the Foreign Minister said in an interview with the radio station” Parapolitika “. George Gerapetritiswhile stressing that the more we work together, the more we prevent the turbulence of the Turkolibyan Memorandum.
“For the next period I have the feeling that we are not in danger of being ratified, but we are on the alert,” he said, adding: he added:
“We understand that the Turkolibyy Memorandum is invalid and non -existent. Even if we had a ratification by parliament, which I do not see for the near futurethis would not make it legal, for the following simple reason: because Turkey and Libya are not neighboring states, as it is Greece and Libya. “
As he explained, “We have two governments one in the east and one in western Libya and we try to balance between the two.” Yesterday, he met in Athens with the Director General of the Economic Reconstruction Agency, and will meet with the West Libyan Foreign Minister next week.
In both cases the major is to develop a multifaceted relationship, economic and strategy, a cooperation that will concern the security forces for migration, as he said.
“Our relations with the Haftar government have never been abandoned, on the contrary, our relations with Western Libya have been rehabilitated,” he said.
Greece’s goal is to start an effort with Libya to delimit and noted that by the end of the year we will have a roadmap to begin the discussion.
Lately the migratory flow from Libya has been minimized, and we are the only European country to talk to all sides of Libya at the highest level.
Thirdly, he added, “there has been no sanction of the Turkish troop memorandum so the effort made with Libya to develop our relationships is deemed absolutely successful.”
He noted that when the interests become common, it is prevented from anything that could cause a problem.
The Foreign Minister pointed out that when Libya announced maritime plots he did so on the line that Greece realizes it is middle. So it did not exceed what we even realize is a midline.
“So when Chevron comes with the good of expressing interest, and you know what an American colossus means and politically and geopolitically investing in a particular country, then in the field we will see who has the plots and who not in the perception of those who would not be in danger,” side.
“There are interests that strike the non -execution of electrical interconnection”
The Foreign Minister said that the Cyprus Electric Interconnection Program and ultimately Israel is an extremely important project, primarily for Cyprus because it is removing its energy isolation.
“From the outset, Greece stood, not just a helper, but by speeding up this issue. Both the prime minister and I, in our statements, have made it clear that Greece wants to continue the project and that the project will continue. “he said.
He noted that while there have been a technical and economic issues in recent days in relation to its viability, the President of the Republic of Cyprus “has clearly undertaken to reiterate the position that it was a strategic project”.
“To the extent that some economic and technical issues will be carried out, the project will proceed with the company that will plan its planning immediately,” he said, adding that the decisions of the two states’ regulatory authorities were taken as soon as July.
“There are obvious interests that strike the non -execution of the project. It is obvious when you have precise energy there are interests that want the energy to remain accurate »he stressed. “I see that there is an underlying tendency to hear various extremes and vulgarities, these are not going to pass on to us, we will be relentless and will use all means so that we do not have cases of private interests that will undermine the project.”
He explained that the energy price in Cyprus is very expensive and anyone who has interests will want to remain accurate. He pointed out that “all this time has been a consensus with the Republic of Cyprus despite the other legend”.
“This project is very important, it creates new data on the energy map, is the largest project in an area of electrical interconnection, and obviously exceeds economics. Anyone who believes that with attacks, which will be done by other means, will be able to undermine his strategic character, makes a big mistake and find himself in the face of consequences, “he said.
And noted that “If we were afraid of any threats of third countries we would have neither a maritime spatial, nor a call for marine land or maritime parks. […] Threats are never a hindrance to make a decision, which is in national interest. “
He stressed that there is a very specific plan for the protection and preservation of the project and added that if a project is prevented that has been characterized as European interest then anyone who does so will also take on the consequences for the European Union.
‘No concession at all in relation to our national lines’
Regarding the forthcoming meeting of the Greek Prime Minister with the Turkish president in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, he pointed out that “we now perceive the relations between two neighboring countries as normal, which was not the case in the past” and added that the basic. “Understanding our differences, we can discuss at one level so that crises are not produced”.
“We have managed to have a functional relationship. Three years ago we had tens of thousands of immigrants coming on the other side of the Aegean, we had thousands of airspace violations. Instead what do we have today? We have minimized violations, we have tourism instead of immigration and we have a relationship that does not produce tensions. “
Concerning major geopolitical issues, he noted that in recent years Greece has taken a number of initiatives referring to the Aegean and Eastern Europe.
“We said that, by recognizing our big underlying difference, which is the delimitation of the marine zones, we are placed on the map, so this is reasonable to create a reaction on the other hand, but we realize that we are not going to depart from the exercise of our sovereign rights. If Turkey wishes it to go to a debate on international law and international jurisdiction over the demarcation of a continental shelf and economic zone, Rhodes, “he said.
“But of course we realize that there should be no concession at all in relation to our national lines. Our difference is one and concerns the demarcation of the marine zones, there is no other difference and we are discussing on the basis of international law, “he concluded.
Asked about this, the minister said that there would be no recognition of the Palestinian state in the right time, while asking if our country would send forces to Ukraine, he replied that there would be no military forces in the field.
Finally, for the possibility of possible existence of different lines in foreign policy, he noted that there is “A single foreign policy that the prime minister and KYSEA sets. I never heard any disagreement in KYSEA. “