Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakihas has announced the launch of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) delimitation talks with Libya’s Tripoli government.

“The first meeting of the technical committees has already taken place here in Athens, and the next one will be held in Tripoli. We still have a long way to go before reaching an agreement, but it is a positive development,” Mitsotakis said in his weekly review on social media Sunday.

He stressed that regional stability depends on agreements based on international law and not on “baseless memoranda,” referring to the maritime zones memorandum the previous Tripoli government signed with Ankara in 2019.

The memorandum, which Greece rejects as it encroaches on its maritime zones, has remained a point of contention in relations between Athens and Tripoli since then.

The prime minister noted that talks with Libya began shortly after US energy giant Chevron formally expressed its interest in offshore blocks south of Crete.

“The start of the delimitation process with Libya comes just a few days after the formal confirmation of the American company Chevron’s participation in the international tender for the four offshore blocks south of Crete and the Peloponnese,” he said.

Mitsotakis also referred to the purchase of a fourth Belharra frigate, Themistocles, noting that the relevant bill has already been submitted to Parliament.

“The second development concerns the purchase of the fourth state-of-the-art Belharra frigate. The relevant bill from the Ministry of National Defense has already been submitted to Parliament,” he said, adding that the first frigate, Kimon, will be delivered around the end of 2025.

Source: Ekathimerini.com