Tag: Libya

France has vigorously contradicted the European Union's counter-terrorism chief Gilles de Kerchove, who said on Monday (5 September) that the Libyan war had raised the terror threat in Europe.

As Muammar Gaddafi's forces scatter, NATO, which has backed Libya's rebels with a bombing campaign, is calling for a peaceful transition of power. Meanwhile, the EU says it will continue to offer support to the Libyan people.

The European Commission carefully welcomed news yesterday (16 May) that the International Criminal Court had sought arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif Al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi.

Of all EU countries' embassies in Libya, only Hungary has a diplomatic presence in Tripoli and provides information to the EU. The European Commission told EurActiv that the situation on the ground was "very difficult" and that the EU was "paying tribute" to the Hungarian Presidency for the work they are doing.

Libya's exiled Crown Prince Mohammed El Senussi made a high-profile appearance in the European Parliament yesterday (20 April). He presented himself as a constitutionalist and lobbied for his country's 1951 monarchic constitution to provide the building blocks of the future Libya.

In the context of the Libyan civil war and unfolding revolutions across the Arab region, Turkey is stepping up efforts to make its mark as a role model and diplomatic broker. EurActiv Turkey contributed to this article.

The EU can send ships to evacuate the civilian population of the rebel coastal city of Misrata, which is under siege from Muammar Gaddafi's forces, if UN humanitarian body OCHA makes such a request, European Commission officials said yesterday (6 April).

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamad Moussa Koussa, a Gaddafi henchman, defected yesterday (30 March) and flew to Britain to seek political asylum. Koussa, a relative of the sentenced Lockerbie bomber and reportedly the mastermind of the 1988 bombing of the PanAm flight, is on the EU travel ban list.

More than 40 governments and international organisations are meeting today (29 March) in London to try to lay the groundwork for a Libya without leader Muammar Gaddafi.

EU leaders adopted new sanctions yesterday (24 March) against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, urging the international community to ensure that Libya's oil and gas revenues "do not reach" his regime. Meanwhile, NATO said it would enforce a no-fly zone over Libya but stopped short of taking full command of the UN-backed military operations in the country.

The intervention of ground troops in Libya is unlikely and would run counter to the objectives of the Western coalition, Dominique Moïsi, founder and senior advisor at Ifri (French Institute for International Relations), told EurActiv.

A serious cyber attack on the European Commission was reported yesterday evening (23 March) as EU leaders prepared to gather in Brussels for a two-day summit during which military intervention in Libya is expected to take centre stage.

The European Union now has its own shadow European Council, which at its first summit yesterday (22 March) drew up a list of conclusions criticising EU leaders' actions taken so far and called for a new pact on economic governance and more consistency in foreign policy, fully respecting the Lisbon Treaty.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday (21 March) admitted they were divided over how to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya, but agreed to extend sanctions on the Gaddafi regime and carry on offering humanitarian assistance.

Only hours after the UN Security Council voted on Thursday to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and to provide help for Libyan rebels fighting to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, a flurry of diplomatic and military activity resulted in what appears to be a "coalition of the willing" to free the country of its dictator.

The UN Security Council voted late yesterday (17 March) to authorise the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya and the taking of "all necessary measures" - code for military action - to protect civilians from leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

France and the UK made a last-effort yesterday (16 March) to urge the UN Security Council to back a draft resolution that would include a no-fly zone over Libya. As the international community appears unwilling to take action, Muammar Gaddafi's troops are preparing to launch "a mortal blow" on rebel capital Benghazi.

The upheaval in North Africa holds the possibility of a renewal of the Mediterranean Union, if Europe can overcome its obsession with Islamic fundamentalism and the 'Muslim Question', argues Mustapha Tlili of New York University.

France pressured G8 foreign ministers yesterday (14 March) to agree action on Libya and back its efforts to speed up a UN Security Council decision on imposing a no-fly zone, but hit opposition from partners like Germany.

Today's (11 March) EU summit took a somewhat surreal turn, after French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister David Cameron left the other 25 EU leaders hanging around while they bilaterally discussed what were believed to be hardline options against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Analyst Marko Papic from global intelligence company Stratfor explains the politics behind France’s support for targeted airstrikes and a no-fly zone over Libya at the 11 March EU summit meeting.

The EU should fundamentally redesign its policy towards its Southern Neighbourhood given the current wave of tectonic change sweeping across the region, writes Polish MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski in an exclusive op-ed for EurActiv, arguing that that the EU's Mediterranean policy must be generous towards the people and demanding towards those who govern.

EU ambassadors in Libyan capital Tripoli have backed proposals by Muammar Gaddafi's regime to establish an independent mission to assess the situation on the ground, a diplomat told the press, despite the insistence of top EU officials that the embattled dictator should step down.

The relationship between events in the Mediterranean and other political processes and crises in Africa, like recent protests in Gabon, Cameroon and Djibouti, should not be overlooked, writes Manuel Manrique of Madrid-based think-tank FRIDE in an exclusive op-ed for EurActiv.