On Saturday 18 July, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that their countries were ready to consider sanctions against countries that fail to abide by the embargo on arms to Libya.
The three leaders called for the embargo to be respected and said that they were ready “to consider the possible use of sanctions should breaches to the embargo at sea, on land or in the air continue”.
In their joint statement, issued at the end of a meeting in the margins of the EU summit, they said they were looking forward to seeing the proposals on the matter to be issued by Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. “We understand our responsibilities and are determined to ensure that Operation Irini is fully effective so that any escalation on the ground is prevented”, they added (see EUROPE 12530/27).
The leaders stressed their “concern about the rise in military tensions”. They therefore called on the Libyan parties and their foreign supporters to end the clashes and stop the military build-up immediately. Foreign actors must end their “increasing interference”, they added.
Merkel, Macron and Conte supported the United Nations’ efforts to create a lasting and credible ceasefire agreement as part of the ongoing negotiations in the 5+5 Committee. “At this critical time”, they encouraged the UN to “explore all options to reduce tensions, including a wide-ranging withdrawal of forces and potentially even the demilitarisation of some regions”.
The leaders also reiterated the need for a Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Libya to be appointed without delay. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)