Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke by phone on Friday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with the Athens-based state-run news agency saying the discussion revolved round the “excellent level of Greece-US relations” and the latter’s positive effect on further American investments in the east Mediterranean country.
The same source said the Greek prime minister and top US diplomat referred to volition to further reinforce relations, both on a bilateral and multilateral level. The latter is a nod to the “3+1” cooperation between Greece, Israel and Cyprus, with the US as an observer.
Beyond the more-or-less expected highlights from such a discussion, the latest contact between Athens and Washington was noteworthy because the situation in strife-plagued Libya was discussed, according to the same report.
The still fractured and war-ravaged North African country has come under Athens’ “radar” since 2019, with the internationally recognized government in Tripoli signed a controversial agreement with Turkey to delimitate maritime zones between the two countries, which do not face each other directly.
Greece considers the accord as illegal and baseless, citing the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea, a position also shared by other regional countries and the European Union. The rival government in eastern Libya, which controls most of the country, has not, so far, recognized the agreement.
Of late, moreover, eastern Libya has served as a mustering point and “springboard” for migrant smuggling networks seeking to traffic third country nationals onto Greek territory via boats.
On Friday, Mitsotakis and Rubio reportedly discussed the situation in Libya and the need to reinforce the political process there to lead the oil-rich country to free elections and to “relieve the country of a foreign presence and influences”, the latter phrase being a thinly veiled reference to Turkey, among others.
Just as importantly, the news report said the two men discussed the need for an “unqualified respect of international law in relation to the delimitation of maritime zones and the need to control illegal migration flows”, according to the wording of the ANA news agency dispatch.
Finally, international developments were discussed, such as the Middle East and Ukraine.
Phone contact with Mahmoud Abbas
In a separate development, Mitsotakis later spoke by phone with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) since 2005, with the latest developments in Gaza and the West Bank dominating.
According to reports, Mitsotakis expressed concern over what was described as the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, while stating that any expansion of the conflict was not acceptable.
He also said Athens was in favor of a continued and interrupted flow of humanitarian aid, and immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all the hostages taken by Hamas.
The same report had Mitsotakis expressing support for the PNA as the only legal representative of the Palestinian people.
