EU must be ready to deploy troops to Libya to uphold ceasefire, EU High Representative Borell says

Borell criticised the increasing influence of Turkey and Russia in Libya

 

“If there is a ceasefire in Libya, the European Union must be ready to assist in the implementation and monitoring of the ceasefire, possibly with soldiers, for example in the context of an EU mission,” the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borell told the German magazine, Der Spiegel on the Libyan crisis.

“At the special meeting of EU foreign ministers, it became very clear that the European Union should do this,” added the European official, who also called for more efforts to monitor the arms embargo in the North African country.

“We Europeans, we are tasked by the United Nations to implement it. In fact, the arms embargo is ineffective, no one there controls anything,” he said.

Borell criticised the increasing influence of Turkey and Russia on Libya, adding that “Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan managed to at least broker a temporary cease-fire between the warring factions in Libya. This is potentially good news for the people of Libya, but it does not necessarily affirm the European Union’s great influence. It is therefore important that the Libyan Summit in Berlin proceed decisively in this process,” the EU chief diplomat concluded.