The format of the European Union's participation in the Libyan peace process will be clarified at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday, Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said ahead of the gathering
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2020) The format of the European Union's participation in the Libyan peace process will be clarified at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday, Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said ahead of the gathering.
On Sunday, Berlin hosted an international conference dedicated to resolving the long-standing conflict in the North African country. Despite the leaders of the warring parties, the Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army, not meeting face-to-face, the conference's other participants, including France, Germany and the African Union, among other states and blocs, expressed their commitment to the UN arms embargo and agreed to reinforce sanctions and ceasefire monitoring mechanisms.
"The [Berlin] conference mentioned the monitoring mechanism. At the moment we don't have detailed information, however, [EU foreign policy chief] Josep Borrell said that EU should be ready to be more active in solving the situation, to monitor the implementation of the agreement. We don't know yet whether it's going to be through deployment of troops, through monitoring of the arms embargo or through dialogue with partners. The meeting today [on Monday] should provide more information," Petricek told reporters upon his arrival at the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
When asked if the option of sending peacekeepers to Libya remained on the table, the Czech foreign minister said it was better to wait for the meeting's conclusions rather than speculate.
A joint statement issued by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Borrell after the talks indicated that Brussels had pledged to play a significant role in the follow-up to the Libya conference. The statement added that on Monday, EU foreign ministers would discuss how to best monitor the ceasefire and respect of the arms embargo.
