Libya military commander flies to Greece ahead of Berlin summit

·

Al Jazeera reports that Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar has secretly flown to Athens on Thursday ahead of the United Nations-backed peace conference in Berlin this weekend.

The Berlin peace conference is the latest international effort to end nine months of fighting between Haftar’s forces based in the east of Libya and the UN-recognised government in Tripoli.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will attend the Berlin summit, along with officials from Russia, Turkey, France, China, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom – as well as several African and Arab countries.

Greece was reportedly snubbed, with the German government rejecting Athens’s claim that it was directly involved in the Libyan conflict. Greece has since signalled it wanted to participate.

Al Jazeera reports that Haftar flew to Athens by private plane on Thursday for meetings not previously announced by the Greek government. He was met by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias for an initial round of talks, television footage showed.

Mitsotakis said on Thursday that it was “wrong” to exclude Greece from the Berlin talks and that he wishes to talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about it on Friday.

He added that Athens would veto at the European Union any Libya peace deal unless the Turkish memorandum that he described as “unacceptable and illegal” was scrapped.

“I’ve told European counterparts [that] Greece will never accept any political solution at [EU] summit level [that fails to] nullify this memorandum,” Mitsotakis told Alpha TV.

“We will veto this even before it reaches a summit council,” he said.

Sourced by: Al Jazeera

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Earlwood’s Greek spirit centre stage as ‘Plateia’ Festival secures state funding

The City of Canterbury Bankstown will host the “Love Earlwood” festival thanks to the NSW Government’s Open Streets 2025-28 Program.

Greek Consul General honoured at Hellenic Club farewell event in Sydney

Sydney’s Greek community came together on Thursday for a dignified farewell dinner in honour of Greece’s Consul General, Ioannis Mallikourtis

Field of candidates announced for 2025 Greek Community of Melbourne Board election

Greek Community of Melbourne has officially called elections for a new Board of Directors, with members set to head to the polls on June 29.

Australia Cup 2025: Strong Greek heritage club presence as Final 32 locked in

The cast for the Hahn Australia Cup 2025 Round of 32 has been decided following the completion of the Preliminary Rounds.

Apostolakis and Trimis named on Young Matildas squad for upcoming training camp

CommBank Young Matildas Head Coach Alex Epakis has settled on a 32-player squad for a domestic training camp to be held in Sydney.

You May Also Like

Emergency calls skyrocket as Athens experiences severe flooding

Flash floods hit Athens and surrounding regions after storm Atena brought torrential rain that swamped the capital city.

Greece embarks on its first Antarctic expedition

The mission is a joint research venture with Bulgarian scientists, finalized last week during an international polar conference.

Mourners claim they have been banned from visiting Melbourne cemeteries

Mourners are confused by restrictions around visiting cemeteries in Victoria, with police saying people are allowed to mourn but with social distance.