On Tuesday 19 January, the EU Heads of Mission and Member States in Libya welcomed the approval, earlier in the day, by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) of the mechanism for selecting a new united executive authority for the entire country.
According to them, this decision “is important to lay the ground for what the Libyan people deserve: a unified transitional government working on restoring basic public services and preparing the country for national elections on 24 December 2021”.
In their communiqué, the Heads of Mission expressed the hope that the LPDF would be able to move swiftly to nominate a new executive based on the agreed mechanism.
While welcoming this progress, the Europeans noted the responsibility of the main stakeholders in Libya regarding progress to be made towards the stabilisation of the country and progress in the general interest of all Libyans. “We call on all Libyan leaders to seize this opportunity in a spirit of compromise and to find a lasting peaceful solution”, they added, while also noting their opposition to any foreign interference.
Furthermore, on the same day, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service welcomed the appointment of Ján Kubiš as special envoy of the UN Secretary General and the head of the UN support mission in Libya.
Ghassan Salamé resigned in March and Stephanie Williams had acted as UN Acting Special Representative. The EU also congratulated her on the “excellent work that has been done over the previous critical months”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)