Cairo - (AFP) - The foreign ministers of Egypt and Greece considered on Sunday that the memorandum of understanding signed between Libya and Turkey regarding oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean is "illegal".

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said during a visit to Cairo that this agreement "threatens stability and security in the Mediterranean."

He added that Tripoli "does not enjoy sovereignty over this region" in which the exploration agreement was signed, stressing that it is "illegal and unacceptable."

For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed that the "outgoing" Tripoli government does not have the legitimacy to sign such agreements.

The memorandum of understanding, which was signed on Monday during a visit by a high-ranking Turkish delegation to Tripoli, came three years after the conclusion of the controversial maritime border demarcation agreement in 2019, which angered the European Union at the time.

The maritime agreement allows Ankara to assert its rights in large areas in the eastern Mediterranean, which arouses the discontent of Greece and the European Union.

Cyprus, Greece, and Egypt consider that the 2019 agreement violates their economic rights in this region, as the discovery of vast gas fields in the past years has raised the ambitions of the countries of the region.

"We will resort to all legal means to defend our rights," Dendias said.

In return for this agreement, Turkey militarily assisted the former Tripoli government in repelling an attack in mid-2020 on the capital by the strong man of the east, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Ankara sent military advisers and drones to Libya at the time, which made it possible to inflict a series of defeats at the gates of Tripoli on the forces of Field Marshal Haftar, who is supported by Russia and Ankara's regional rivals, especially the UAE and Egypt.

The agreement was also rejected by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, based in eastern Libya, and the government of Fathi Bashagha, appointed by the parliament, considering that the signing of the agreement is "illegal" and "unacceptable."

Two governments have been competing for power in Libya since March, the first is the Tripoli government, which was born in 2021 as part of a peace process sponsored by the United Nations, and the second has been led since March by former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha with the support of Haftar.