Brussels, 28/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - Several EU member states, including France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Malta and the Netherlands, called on their nationals on Monday 28 July to leave Libya, following the escalation in levels of violence there. Belgium made this call on 16 July last.
Italy has already helped evacuate around one hundred of its nationals, as well as nationals from other countries, by means of a military aeroplane and by road through Tunisia.
France has called on its fewer than one hundred nationals to leave Libya due to the worsening situation in the country, announced the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, asking French citizens to contact the embassy in Tripoli “as soon as possible”. According to the German Ministry, “the situation is extremely unpredictable and uncertain”. “German citizens are at a greater risk or being kidnapped or attacked”, it added. The Netherlands called on its seventy nationals in the country to leave Libya by their own resources, as did the United Kingdom with its own nationals. The UK called on its one hundred to three hundred nationals in the country to leave immediately by commercial means and advised against any visits being made to the country.
Several European countries, including Portugal, Austria, Romania, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have also urged their citizens not to visit Libya.
The EU delegation in Tripoli is still open, the spokesperson for the High Representative has told EUROPE, added that “the EU has not decided to evacuate the country. This applies both to the EU delegation and to EUBAM”. The delegation is made up of three individuals and EUBAM has a team of ten. The spokesperson said that “we are in permanent contact with our colleagues in Tripoli and we are continually reassessing the situation”. (CG)