Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleGreece seeks Libya's cooperation to manage rising migration flows to Europe, deploying naval vessels and engaging EU officials for discussions.
(Reuters) -Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that Libya should cooperate with Greece and Europe to help halt a surge in migration flows from the north African state.
Seaborne arrivals of migrants in Europe from the north of Africa, including war-torn Sudan, and the Middle East have spiked in recent months.
Greece said on Monday it would deploy two frigates and one more vessel off Libya's territorial waters to deter migrants from reaching its southern islands of Crete and Gavdos.
"I will inform my colleagues about the significant increase in the number of people from eastern Libya and ask for the support of the European Commission so that the issue can be addressed immediately," Mitsotakis said ahead of an European Union summit in Brussels that began on Thursday.
Mitsotakis said authorities in Libya should cooperate with Greece to stop migrants sailing from there or turn them back before they exit Libyan territorial waters.
He added that the EU's migration commissioner and ministers from Italy, Greece and Malta would travel to Libya early in July to discuss the issue.
Law and order has been weak in Libya since a 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with the country divided by factional conflict into eastern and western sections for over a decade.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; writing by Antonis Pothitos; editing by William Maclean and Mark Heinrich)
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that Libya should cooperate with Greece and Europe to help halt the surge in migration flows from the north African state.
Greece announced it would deploy two frigates and another vessel off Libya's territorial waters to deter migrants from reaching its southern islands of Crete and Gavdos.
Mitsotakis mentioned that the EU's migration commissioner and ministers from Italy, Greece, and Malta would travel to Libya early in July to discuss the migration issue.
The article notes that seaborne arrivals of migrants in Europe from North Africa, including war-torn Sudan and the Middle East, have spiked in recent months.
Law and order in Libya has been weak since the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with the country divided by factional conflict into eastern and western sections for over a decade.
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