Brussels, 22/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 20 February, the European Council called on all the Libyan parties to implement the Libyan political agreement, to set up a government of national accord, and to focus their efforts on economic recovery and the fight against terrorism.
“The EU will support these efforts in cooperation with the Untied Nations”, the European leaders stated in their conclusions. “The stabilisation of Libya remains a major priority for regional and European security as well as for managing migration flows in the central Mediterranean”, the European leaders state.
In an interview in French weekly newspaper Journal du dimanche on 20 February, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said that the coming days would be “crucial” with the vote of the parliament to approve the future government. Libya's Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj presented his new government's work agenda to the Tobruk Parliament, but the session was suspended and UN Special Envoy Martin Kobler visited the country to help the discussions. On Tuesday 23 March, the deputies could decide if they give their trust to this second version of the government, which comprises 13 ministers and five secretaries of state.
Although the US launched an air strike against ISIL in Sabrata (70km west of Tripoli) on 19 February, Mogherini said it was up to the Libyan authorities to ask for any support for fighting the terrorist organisation. In Mogherini's view, it is up to the Libyans “to address the threat [ISIL] themselves (…) If we want to help them, it is in trusting them, because they know their country better than us. The choice of asking for any support to fight ISIL will be up to them.” She stated that the EU was ready to provide technical help for the organisation of the institutions if the government wanted it. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)