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The recent Turkish-Libyan energy memorandum rang the bell of the need to strengthen Greece's relations not only with Libya but with the entire Arab and Islamic world; relations which over the last thirty years have diminished compared to the past, yet have always remained friendly. With the exception of the post-war governments of Konstantinos Karamanlis and the post-democratic governments of Andreas Papandreou, Greek foreign policy has become accustomed to not following, in essence, its balanced and multilateral relationship with both the West and the Arab and Islamic world in general.

Developments in relations between Turkey and one of the two civil governments in Libya have made it clear that Greek foreign policy must become more active, declaring its presence in developments in both Libya and other Arab countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and more broadly in the Islamic world.

More specifically, in Libya today, Greece needs to create channels of communication and action, acting on the basis of the tripartite scheme of political-economic-cultural diplomacy. This activity must be carried out within the framework of international law and UN resolutions on Libya.

At the same time, however, Athens must act constructively in providing the humanitarian aid that Libya needs in the east and west. At the economic level, there are areas of Greek-Libyan cooperation that allow Greece to further contribute to the stabilization of the country.
In the medium term, Greek-Libyan relations may return to their traditional positive climate if Athens takes initiatives for substantive and constructive diplomacy based on a careful Greek policy of connecting vessels between Tobruk and Tripoli. Only in this case will Greece be able to strengthen relations with Libya, helping it in the difficult days it is going through.

At the same time, Athens must declare its active presence in the Palestinian Issue, the barometer of the West's relations with the Arab and Islamic world, protecting the property of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and mediating for the resumption of talks between Palestinians and Israelis with the aim of creating an independent Palestinian State on the basis of the Two-State Solution.

At the same time, the issue of restoring diplomatic relations between Greece and Syria is also of key importance for Greece's geopolitical presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region, with the main issue being the cooperation between Athens and Damascus on the refugee issue.

Obviously, only with a more active and substantial presence of Greece in Libya and the Arab world will Athens be able in the future to build more trust with the Libyan and other Arab governments and to influence crucial decisions, such as those concerning energy, to its advantage. In this case, the future of Greek-Libyan and Greek-Arab relations will be firmly structured. There is no longer any room for further delays.

*Dr. Evangelos Venetis is an expert on Islam and the Middle East.