The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy made no bones about the EU’s position on the crisis in Libya during a debate in the European Parliament on Tuesday evening, 14 January.
According to him, the Berlin conference - scheduled for 19 January and in which he will take part - will, if it leads to an agreement, “test the political will of the EU, which must be more involved in the Libyan dossier”.
Mr Borrell announced that he intends to present proposals to the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council on Monday 20 January “for Europeans to be more involved” in monitoring the ceasefire and arms embargo. According to the UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salamé, a dozen countries violated the embargo in 2019.
“We Europeans, since we do not want to participate in a military solution, are sealing ourselves off in the belief that there is no military solution. But that’s something that could very well happen”, he also warned. He added: “We must make a firm commitment, maintain Libya’s unity and find a peaceful solution to this conflict”.
While his predecessor, Federica Mogherini, refused to talk about divisions concerning the Libyan issue, Mr Borrell regretted that, in the past, “we have not been united”. “Today, perhaps we are paying the price for not having been able to present a political approach shared by all Member States”, he added.
And while, according to him, the EU was “more or less active, but alone” on the Libyan question 6 months ago, today there are two major military players on the ground: Russia and Turkey. “No one will be very happy if there is a ring of Russian and Turkish naval bases on the Libyan coast facing the Italian coast”, he said.
Borrell also called Libya “a kind of cancer that has metastasized to the Sahel”, with weapons and fighters spreading throughout the region.
During the debate, MEPs expressed support for the ceasefire, which is still being negotiated, and for the Berlin conference. On Wednesday, the chair of Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries, Andrea Cozzolino (S&D, Italy), called for an EU mission to be sent to the region “as soon as possible”, in full consultation with Mr Salamé, “in order to foster peace and dialogue”.
On the same day, Mr Salamé said he hoped for a “minimum international consensus on the way forward” in order to move towards peace at the Berlin conference. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)