Irini

Turkey is maintaining its presence in the sea area between the island of Crete and Libya, with six frigates and an oil tanker observed in the region on Friday.

The frigates are in international waters secured for naval exercises by four navigational telexes issued by Ankara.

The European Union announced Tuesday the launch of a new naval mission in the Mediterranean Sea aimed at enforcing the UN arms embargo on Libya, after Italy blocked a previous operation claiming that the warships attracted migrants to Europe's shores.

The European Union will launch a new Mediterranean naval and air mission in April to stop more arms reach warring factions in Libya, EU diplomats said on Thursday, with Greece agreeing to take in any migrants rescued at sea.

Modern Greek bureaucracy and petty partisan interests appear to have again reared their “ugly head”, with the eight residents of the remote isle of Levitha essentially considered as “non entities” by the municipality Leros, part of a bid to characterize the isle as uninhabited.