EU-Libya: Michel (European Council), “there is no military solution to the crisis. Only a political process can bring peace and stability

(Brussels) The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and High Representative Josep Borrell have met with Fayez al-Sarraj, Chairman of the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord of the State of Libya, upon his arrival in Brussels. Mr al-Sarraj is also meeting with the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli. President Michel expressed “concerns about the worrying military escalations in Libya”. He stressed in an official statement that “there is no military solution to the Libyan crisis, only a political process can bring peace and stability. Libyans should be at the heart of defining their own future”. The European Union, for its part, “will step up efforts towards a peaceful and political solution. The European Union fully supports the Berlin process and all UN initiatives aimed at finding a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Libya”. High Representative Borrell reiterated “the importance of creating the right conditions ahead of future steps as discussed during the ministerial meeting that took place yesterday”. President Michel also raised the recent Turkey-Libya Memorandum of Understanding on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean Sea and expressed the European Union’s position that the Memorandum “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third States and does not comply with the Law of the Sea and cannot produce any legal consequences for third States”.
Marco Calvarese