Greek Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis met separately in Libya on Tuesday with Chairman of the Presidential council Mohammed Menfi, Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU) of Libya Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and with acting Foreign Affairs Minister Taher Al Baour.Both sides spoke of historical Greek-Libyan relations and agreed that their common geography called for cooperation and holding sincere talks, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. 

The Greek FM and Libyan officials had the opportunity to express their stances on all issues related to bilateral relations, exchanging views as well on complex issues such as migration and the delimitation of maritime zones.

As to the spike in migration flows, the Greek FM presented recent developments Greece is facing, with flows from Tobruk to Crete, particularly in the midst of the tourist period, and underlined it is vital that a new migration corridor is not established.

Both sides agreed that there must be communication relative to the control of land and maritime borders, and the Libyan side requested the assistance of Greece on both bilateral level and in the framework of the European Union and the UN Security Council.

On the issue of delimiting maritime zones, the foreign minister stressed that Greece seeks to resolve such issues with its neighboring countries on the basis of the International Law of the Sea.

Both Greece and Libya, as states with designated coastlines, agreed to discuss the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone in the near future. As to the call for auction for hydrocarbon exploration in two blocks south of Crete, the Greek foreign minister underlined that Greece is exercising its sovereign rights based on International Law and is not acting to the detriment of third parties.

Gerapetritis expressed Greece's goal of strengthening bilateral relations with Tripoli, with an emphasis on the economy and investments. Libya is considered a significant trade partner of Greece, and in this direction the two sides agreed that further opportunities of cooperation be explored in the energy, construction, and transport sectors.

The successive visits of FM Gerapetritis to Benghazi on July 6 and Tripoli of Libya on July 15 are assessed as having been especially constructive and satisfactory, and believed to have created a positive dynamic in Greek-Libyan relations.