About: Libya Archives

Libya’s warring leaders made some progress at indirect peace talks in Moscow on Monday (13 January) but failed to agree on an open-ended ceasefire to end a nine-month war over the capital Tripoli.

New European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was put on the spot during her visit to Zagreb on Friday (10 January). Asked how she would prove that her Commission is ‘geopolitical’, given the EU's weak response to growing challenges in the region, von der Leyen failed to provide convincing answers.

EU leaders met the head of Libya's UN-recognised government on Wednesday (8 January) as they scramble to contain the escalating crisis on their southern flank amid concerns about illegal migration and terrorism.

Foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Italy held emergency talks on Iran and Lybia in Brussels on Tuesday (7 January), as the EU continued struggling to find a united response to the two escalating crises in its neighbourhood.

EU foreign ministers will hold emergency talks on the Iran crisis later this week on Friday as tensions rise after US forces killed an Iranian general in a drone strike, diplomats said on Monday (6 January).

After Turkey's parliament passed a bill on Thursday (2 January) approving a deployment of armed forces to Libya, here is a look back at some of the other Turkish military operations abroad.

Turkey may need to draft a bill to allow for troop deployment to Libya and its parliament is working on the issue, Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Tuesday (24 Decembrer), after Ankara signed a military cooperation agreement with Tripoli last month.

Turkey moved closer to military support for Libya's internationally recognised government late on Saturday (14 December) when a bilateral deal that provides for a quick reaction force if requested by Tripoli was sent to parliament.

Ankara’s moves in the Mediterranean Sea reflect President Erdoğan’s ambitions to make Turkey a leading country. But its unilateralism is unnecessarily aggravating tensions in the region and, as usual, leaves it to Brussels and Washington to sort it out, writes Henri J Barkey.

Since the rapture of the 2011 Arab uprisings, starting in Tunisia and sweeping through North Africa and the Middle East – most notably engulfing Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Yemen – a bitter aftertaste of repression and civil war lingers, writes Sharon Lecocq.

Humanitarian group SOS Méditerranée said Sunday (21 July) it has relaunched rescue efforts off Libya seven months after it abandoned operations using its ship Aquarius and despite a refusal by European ports to accept the migrants.

Malta's prime minister said Sunday (7 July) his country would relocate to other EU nations 65 migrants from the Alan Kurdi rescue ship, after two other boats defied efforts to stop them landing in neighbouring Italy.

An air strike late on Tuesday (2 July) hit a detention centre for mainly African migrants in a suburb of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, killing at least 40 people and wounding 80, a health official said.

In spite of the drop in numbers of crossing, the death rate in the Central Mediterranean has increased over the past few months. EURACTIV talked to UNHCR Special Envoy Vincent Cochetel about the situation in the world deadliest border.

Nearly 20,000 migrants have been rescued from the Sahara desert in Niger over the past three years, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday (25 June).

France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy is to go on trial facing charges of corruption and influence peddling after losing his final bid to avert appearing in the dock, sources close to the case said Wednesday (19 June).

The leader of German Christian Democrats, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK), stated on Wednesday (12 June) that German military expenditures would have to be raised to NATO's 2% spending target, while former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel proposed splitting Germany's military spending into two funds. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The European Commission defended on Monday (3 June) its track record of saving lives in the Mediterranean, faced with accusations of "“crimes against humanity” substantiated in a 245-page report by international lawyers, brought before the International Criminal Court.

The Libyan coast guard has stopped 113 migrants trying to reach Italy over the past two days, the United Nations said on Wednesday (1 May), as boat departures resume following a lull in fighting between rival forces in Libya.

EU foreign ministers on Saturday upped pressure on Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar to halt his offensive on Tripoli, urging the strongman to commit to a political solution. The issue is expected to be discussed again at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday (8 April).

Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops Thursday (4 April) to "advance" on Tripoli, seat of the internationally-recognised unity government, as world powers warned of consequences for military action.

UN Secretary General António Guterres said Thursday (4 April) he was "shocked" by the level of suffering of migrants at a detention centre in Tripoli which he visited during a visit to the Libyan capital.

Five men were arrested Thursday (28 March) after Maltese armed forces took control of a tanker that was hijacked by migrants off Libya and the ship docked in Malta.

International rights advocates criticised the European Union on Wednesday (27 March) for abdicating its humanitarian responsibilities after the bloc agreed to withdraw ships patrolling the Mediterranean for migrants attempting the perilous voyage. After much wrangling, the EU agreed this week to …