High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of EU Commission Josep Borrell spoke to the press following his meeting on Libya with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

 

The meeting in Brussels was attended by Heiko Maas [Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany], Luigi Di Maio [Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy], Jean-Yves Le Drian [Minister of Foreign Affairs of France], and Dominic Raab [Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom].

 

Borrell said Libya is a priority for the European Union and stressed that they will be actively engaged with all relevant actors in their efforts to stop the hostilities and achieve the resumption of a political dialogue. “We know that the situation is worsening day by day and the only solution in Libya, once again we have to repeat it, has to be a political negotiation among the parts. There is no military solution.”

 

Borrell stated that with his colleagues, they agreed that the overriding urgency is to stop the fighting in and around Tripoli and asked for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

 

“Any escalation and also any outside interference will only make the conflict more protracted, bring more misery to ordinary people in Libya, exacerbate divisions in the country, increase the risk of its partition, spread instability across the region and aggravate the threat of terrorism.”

 

Asked if Turkey’s decision to deploy troops in Libya was discussed during today’s meeting, Borrell said the following; “We asked for a cease-fire and we asked also to stop the escalation and the external interferences which have been increasing in the last days. It is obvious that this makes a reference to the Turkish decision to intervene with their troops in Libya which is something that we reject and that increases our worries about the situation in Libya. I have not said that very explicitly but it is clear, to someone who wants to understand, that when I am talking about these increased external interferences I am making a reference to the interference of Turkey.”