This is not only a Greek Libyan standoff, it’s a three-way power triangle, and who gets to decide where the energy future begins in Europe. It has become a battleground for pipelines, cables, drilling rights, and political influence, all while Europe claims to want to go green and sustainable. So, how did we get here? Why are oil ambitions still fueling new clashes? And why does this strange triangle between Crete, Tripoli, and Ankara tell us about the real power struggle unfolding in the waves? Let’s break it down.

On June 13th 2025, the Olympia National Oil Corporation opened a bidding for a new offshore oil and gas exploration block which overlaps the maritime zones Greece already claims just south of Crete.

Greece insists that everything was done in accordance with international law, to which Libya is a signatory. This is a reassertion of legal control over waters, and it is seen as unquestionably Greek.

This is more of a chessboard one, where energy diplomacy and decades of alliances are all converging within. 

This area lies within the Exclusive Economic Zone, and Athens believes it’s backed by International law, which gives the countries the right to explore and use maritime resources within 200 nautical miles of their coastline.

The interesting aspect in all this is that Libya isn’t a signatory, so while Greece is quoting the law, Tripoli is playing a different playbook.

From Greece’s standpoint, this is a legal and commercially drawn tender. Athens is planting a flag without sending any ships or sparking a standoff; it’s a paper rush, not a military one.

It’s also no coincidence that Greece moved the head of schedule announcing all its licensing around just four days after Libya. The speed is an indication that Athens is using a defensive strike on the map. 

Greece’s long-standing stance on energy exploration without coordination is that it might destabilise the region. This brings us to the elephant in the room: behind Greece’s Libyan flashpoint is a third player with a long memory and a map of its own as well. 

We can’t have a discussion about Greece and Libya’s Maritime clash without mentioning Turkey. Back in 2019, the Unity governments of Ankara and Libya signed a maritime agreement that drew a bold new boundary across the Mediterranean, one that cut through waters Greece considers its own, and which ignored islands like Crete in the process.

 In fact, just days before this flare-up, Turkey submitted the new Maritime map to UNESCO that challenges the zoning in the Aegean: different sea, same story overlapping claims contested boundaries and the legal frameworks that do not match.

It’s a high-stakes triangle: Crete to the north, Tripoli to the South, and Ankara to the East. The real battle is not oil or gas at all; it’s over who will define the map for it. Greece is defending its position on multiple fronts simultaneously. 

Countries like Spain, Italy, and Malta also have their own stakes in the Mediterranean energy; some rely on Libyan cooperation, while others are signing deals with North African energy firms. On this chessboard, supporting Greece is risky for future contracts or inflaming dormant maritime disputes.

Greece understands this, and that’s why it’s acting more quickly on certain matters before hesitation turns into an EU distance. As that solidarity wavers, the Eastern Mediterranean is increasingly looking like a free-for-all because whoever moves first, that’s the fact, and whoever makes the first move draws the map. 

This is a fight for recognition in a union that is distracted, divided, and slowly recalibrating its priorities away from the seas and towards its own uncertain centre.