On Thursday 16 July, David Schenker, Assistant Secretary for Near East Policy at the U.S. Department of State, told an event at the German Marshall Fund that Europe needs to do more to improve the situation in Libya.
He explained his reasoning: “I want to see Europe play a more robust, more meaningful role vis a vis Libya, both with boots on the ground and with Operation Irini”, an operation he also criticised.
According to Schenker, although the EU had promised to criticise any violation of the embargo on arms to Libya, the only shipment they singled out was military equipment send by Turkey.
However, according to Schenker, there have also been Russian, Emirati and Egyptian aircraft, and the Europeans have radar images showing military aircraft flying. “The Europeans can at least call them out, all parties to the conflict, when they violate the embargo”, he added, and wondered whether maybe Europe was concerned about a backlash from Russia if it was accused of involvement.
More broadly, Schenker wanted the Europeans to become more involved in the region, adding that they had significant interests there. He emphasised that the Trump administration had always advocated better burden-sharing, in both financial and troop deployment terms. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)