(Bloomberg) — Europe’s top diplomat called the spiraling violence in Libya “quite worrying” and said international powers must put pressure on the warring parties to end the conflict.
The European Union’s top foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said that a Jan. 19 meeting of world leaders in Berlin had not halted Libya’s civil war, acknowledging the fragility of the truce.
“We knew, everybody, that the result of the Berlin conference would not result in automatic implementation,” Borrell told reporters in Berlin on Monday alongside German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “Everybody knew it wasn’t an agreement that would be enforced tomorrow.”
The United Nations warned that foreign powers were setting the stage for even more fighting in the OPEC nation, while Libya’s internationally-recognized government said Sunday that repeated attacks by rival commander Khalifa Haftar have rendered a fragile truce all but meaningless.
“We don’t have any illusions that this will be a difficult path, and that the largest part of it lies ahead of us,” Germany’s Maas said.
Frailty of Libya Accord on Display In Merkel-Erdogan Squabble
At stake for Europe is the stability of a major oil producer in its backyard and the threat of a growing sphere of influence of Russia and Turkey, which effectively control developments there by sending support to the warring parties. The idea for Europe to have its own military presence in Libya is far from consensual and would require an effective cease-fire first.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted the Berlin meeting in an attempt to stanch the conflict but the precariousness of the accord was on display during her visit to Istanbul on Friday, where she and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan bickered publicly over the terms of the deal.
The UN on Saturday said none of the parties involved in the Berlin conference — which also grouped Turkey, Russia and Egypt — were honoring the terms of the deal.
–With assistance from Taylan Bilgic.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at [email protected], Raymond Colitt, Caroline Alexander
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