On Friday 5 April, European External Action Service spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic called on the parties in Libya to reduce tensions between them, as General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army forces approach Tripoli.
“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing military build-up underway in Libya and the escalatory rhetoric which is seriously threatening to escalate into an uncontrollable confrontation”, she stressed. “We call on all parties to immediately de-escalate the situation and cease all acts of provocation”, she urged, in front of the press.
According to the spokeswoman, there is no military solution to the crisis in Libya and the situation requires officials to put the national interest at the top of their agenda.
While the National Conference, scheduled for 14-16 April in Ghadames, is being called into question because of this rise in tensions, Ms Kocijancic said that this Conference should provide “a historic opportunity to agree on a political roadmap”. But for a European source, “General Haftar's offensive on Tripoli makes the timing complicated”.
The day before in a joint statement, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and the United Arab Emirates had already called for “all parties to immediately ease the tensions that hinder the prospects for United Nations political mediation”.
Libya, both with regard to the situation on the ground and the Quartet meeting on 30 March (see EUROPE 12226/4), is a subject that should be dealt with very quickly at the Foreign Affairs Council on 8 April (see other news). According to a European source, the discussion will focus on two issues: the ability of Europeans to remain united, with regard to the situation on the ground, and to put pressure on the parties to stop the offensive, and to reinforce the role of the UN Special Envoy, Ghassam Salamé, whose work the EU supports. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)