Friday

29th Mar 2024

Italy voices cautious approach to chaos in Libya

  • (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

Italy on Monday (16 February) ruled out military intervention in Libya to help restore order as armed militants from the Islamic state expand their presence in the oil-rich country.

“We are following events closely and with concern but there is no need to jump from total indifference to hysteria and an unreasonable reaction,” Italian PM Matteo Renzi told TG5 television in an interview.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Islamic state fighters beheaded 21 Egyptian christians (Photo: BRC)

Calls for Rome to lead a coalition of 5,000 ground troops were floated by Italy’s defence minister Roberta Pinotti.

Foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni had also said Italy was ready to fight as part of a larger international effort to contain the violence in the near lawless country should UN-led diplomatic efforts fail.

Similar comments were made by interior minister Angelino Alfano who told La Repubblica newspaper that Italy needs to intervene with an UN-backed mission of peacekeeping forces after Isis fighters over the weekend released video showing the decapitation of 21 Egyptian Christian workers.

“There is not a minute to lose. We have to intervene in Libya with a UN mission. The international community must understand that it is crucial for the future of the West,” he said.

But Renzi, in a telephone call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, agreed to pursue diplomatic efforts after Egypt launched retaliation airstrikes against the militants in Libya on Monday.

The strikes reportedly killed 64 Isis fighters, including three from the leadership, in the coastal cities of Derna and Sirte.

A loose coalition of militias vying for power with the rival government in Tripoli has helped, in part, to create the space for criminal organisations like the Islamic state and human smuggling networks to operate.

Islamic militant factions in the east and south of the country have reportedly pledged their allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi with battles raging between government forces and jihadist fighters in Libya’s second largest city Benghazi.

The UN refugee agency says the fighting in the city since last May has displaced over 100,000 people.

EU leaders at summit in Brussels last week have also ruled out any military intervention, opting instead for a political solution to a conflict that kicked off when dictator Moammar Gadhafi was ousted in 2011.

They noted, in a joint-statement, that the evidence of increased activity of terrorist and extremist groups pose a threat “to the future stability of the country, region and the EU”.

Located on the northern edge of the African coastline, Libya is around 300 km from Italy and has become the launch pad for ten of thousands of migrants seeking refuge and asylum in Europe.

Many are fleeing persecution, war, and poverty from Syria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and other parts of Africa.

The mass exodus has seen a recent surge of Italian-led rescue operations at sea with over 2,000 scooped up from a large dinghies in the past few days.

Last week, over 330 drowned in bad weather, sparking calls for EU member states to contribute more to the Italian-led rescue operations.

In 2014, around 218,000 people crossed the Mediterranean. Around 3,500 lives were lost in the effort.

EU to revise relations with turbulent neighbourhood

A decade after launching it, the EU is trying to bring new life to its Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which has been rendered largely irrelevant by developments in Ukraine and around the Mediterranean.

US and EU breaking taboos to restrain Israel

The US abstained and all EU states on the UN Security Council backed a call for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, as Europe prepares to also blacklist extremist Israeli settlers.

EU warns Russia over Moscow terror attacks

Europe has warned Russia not to use the weekend's terror attacks in Moscow as a pretext to escalate its war in Ukraine and crackdown on internal dissent.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us