The protracted conflict in Libya that has almost disappeared from the political agenda may deteriorate further and result in a full-scale war. What is the role of France in resolving the crisis in Libya? Russian International Affairs Council asked Ambassador Elisabeth Barbier, Special Envoy of France to Libya, to comment on a political solution for a problem.
The protracted conflict in Libya that has almost disappeared from the political agenda may deteriorate further and result in a full-scale war. What is the role of France in resolving the crisis in Libya? Russian International Affairs Council asked Ambassador Elisabeth Barbier, Special Envoy of France to Libya, to comment on a political solution for a problem.
At this stage, there is no national French initiative. What we see is that there are many other initiatives, and what we would like is for these initiatives to succeed. When I started with my new job, I first went to Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and then to Qatar and Turkey. So, the idea with Libya is to encourage and push the country in the right direction, which it cannot do on its own. This problem cannot be solved through military means. But it’s up to the Libyans to find first of all the heart of a solution, in the framework of the Skhirat Agreement. I think everybody agrees on that.
Among other European Union countries France is among the most interested in what’s happening in Libya. Recently the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU adopted a declaration on Libya, and it had been a long time that Europe had not talked about Libya, almost a year. The declaration speaks about the necessity of finding a political solution for the problem.
Not only did it look at Libya through the lens of the immigration problem, but it talked about the need to find a solution. It also covered the efforts that have been made by the neighbor countries who have met. The African Union also had a meeting and is trying to put the actors in the same direction. We think that the UN has an important role to play, and we hope the new Secretary General will insist on Libya remaining an important subject, as he seems to be giving the issue quite a lot of attention.
In your opinion, what is Khalifa Haftar’s role in this conflict, and does he have the capabilities to consolidate the country?
We think that he has a role to play, clearly, and that the Libyans have to agree on a place for Haftar. However, we do not believe that he can conquer Libya. Sometimes he says “I’ll go to Tripoli, I’ll get all these Islamists out”, etc. We don’t think that is feasible, it will lead to a bloodbath, to chaos. This chaos will then be used again by Daesh, for instance, to consolidate positions in Libya. So if Haftar is going to act as a leader of a united national army, it has to be under civilian control.
