EU to Discuss Developments in Libya

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell attends a news conference during the Southern EU Countries summit at Filoxenia Conference centre in Nicosia, Cyprus January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell attends a news conference during the Southern EU Countries summit at Filoxenia Conference centre in Nicosia, Cyprus January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
TT

EU to Discuss Developments in Libya

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell attends a news conference during the Southern EU Countries summit at Filoxenia Conference centre in Nicosia, Cyprus January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell attends a news conference during the Southern EU Countries summit at Filoxenia Conference centre in Nicosia, Cyprus January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe said that foreign ministers will discuss Monday Libya developments and highlight the political solution for the crisis. The European Union (EU) will also host on the 23rd of July a meeting for high-rank officials to discuss the ceasefire in the country.

In his statement before the United Nations Security Council, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that the EU will host in the last week of this month a meeting for the International Follow-up Committee on Libya (IFCL).

“As European Union, we believe it is high time to put an end to this military conflict. This meeting brings together all countries which have the capacity, if genuinely committed, to contribute to a political transition in Libya. We all took strong commitments in the Berlin conference in January; it is now time to translate our words into concrete actions. We need to work collectively, under a strong United Nations leadership, to implement truly the conclusions of Berlin, which everybody accepted,” he said.

“The polarization, which has turned Libya into a theater of proxy wars, needs to stop. Actions in support of one or the other Libyan party fuel the conflict, and some constitute clear provocations. We must go back to our Berlin-commitments, starting with the enforcement of the United Nations arms embargo, which unfortunately continues to be violated on all sides and every day, in all impunity,” Borrell added.

“We need a collective effort to favor the return of the Libyan parties to the negotiating table, starting with the UN-led 5+5 military talks to reach an agreement on a sustainable ceasefire.”

Moreover, European Union foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the success of Operation Irini in implementing the UN arms’ embargo in Libya would be an opportunity to stop the fight.

Amid the ongoing escalation between both parties, the situation has worsened, he added.



Blinken Says More than a Third of Israeli Forces in Lebanon Have Withdrawn

A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj al-Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj al-Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
TT

Blinken Says More than a Third of Israeli Forces in Lebanon Have Withdrawn

A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj al-Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj al-Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that more than a third of Israeli forces in Lebanon have withdrawn since the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Blinken, speaking to reporters in Paris, said that while challenges remain, the oversight mechanism put together by the United States and France to address concerns about ceasefire violations is working and functioning well.