Greece playing limited role in Libya operations
Greece is providing support and facilities for its allies’ operations in Libya but is not playing an active role with its own forces at this point, Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday.
Droutsas discussed the issue of Libya with his German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle, according an Athens News Agency report.
The Greek minister said that Athens was complying with its obligations stemming from the UN Security Council decision and was acting in accordance with international law.
If NATO became involved in imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, Droutsas said, Greece would make a limited contribution.
He said that Greece is participating with a frigate that was already in the Libyan area for other reasons, a helicopter and an airborne radar. He ruled out the contribution of a fleet of F16 fighter-bombers.
He added that Greece (and Crete, in particular, as it lies just 300 kilometers off Libya) is not in danger from Libyan weapons.
Droutsas is in Berlin to address a Social Democratic Party conference on the financial crisis and its consequences for the EU, at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Other speakers will be Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn and SPD parliamentary group chairman Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
