On Wednesday 9 July, the European Commission cited a “protocol” problem to explain the refusal of the authorities in eastern Libya, the previous day, to allow the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Magnus Brunner, accompanied by the Italian, Greek and Maltese interior ministers, to continue his mission in the country.
After holding a meeting in Tripoli with Libya’s UN-recognised government of national unity, the European officials were abruptly stopped in Benghazi, the territory...