Fresh details are emerging into the deportation of EU home affairs commissioner Magnus Brunner and three European ministers on Tuesday (8 July) by authorities in eastern Libya.
Pressed by reporters in Brussels, the European Commission on Wednesday (9 July) said the delegation had planned to meet the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, also known as the Libyan National Army (LNA).
The commission refused to provide details, citing protocol issues as the reason why the delegation, composed of Brunner plus the interior ministers of Greece, Italy, and Malta were declared "persona non grata" by the prime minister of the eastern part of Libya, Osama Hammad.
The delegation were slated to meet with Kremlin-backed Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Tobruk-based LNA.
But a Libyan source, who asked for anonymity due to security risks, says Haftar's son Khalid had lobbied on the behalf of Hammad to expand the meeting with their own ministers of interior and foreign affairs.
"Due to the close relationship between the prime minister of eastern Libya, Osama Hammad, and Haftar’s son, Khalid, who is responsible for his father’s security, Hammad intervened and requested that the government be present at the meeting," said the source.
The request was made after the European delegation, which describes itself as Team Europe, had met with prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. Dbeibah heads the internationally-recognised government in the capital Tripoli.
The source said the intention behind Hammad's request was to emphasise that any deal made with the Dbeibah government would be ineffective, as the general command is the actual authority controlling Libya’s main migration routes.
"Hammad’s insistence on including government representatives in the meeting was an attempt to extract some form of recognition, albeit unofficial, from the European side for his government. It seems Khalid Haftar succeeded in convincing his father of this approach," said the source.
The timing of Hammad's Tuesday directive declaring the delegation as persona non grata came shortly after Greece's foreign minister George Gerapetritis met with Khalifa Haftar at his headquarters in Benghazi.
Brunner and the three interior ministers were then later deported from Benina International Airport. Another 141 people from Bangladesh were also deported, seperately.
The diplomatic blow-up also comes at a time when more and more people are departing from Tobruk in east Libya in a desperate attempt to cross the Mediterranean by boats in order to reach Greece.
Athens says around 8,000 migrants have reached the island of Crete since the start of 2025, sparking alarm among Greek authorities.
Khalifa Haftar’s other son, Saddam Haftar, leads the Tariq Bin Ziyad Brigade and is chief of staff of the ground forces.
A so-called "20/20 Unit", which is affiliated with the brigade, is reportedly responsible for smuggling migrants through the Tobruk naval base in northeastern Libya, near the Egyptian border.
Many of those smuggled are said to come from Sudan, which is embroiled in a bloody civil war.
This year, we turn 25 and are looking for 2,500 new supporting members to take their stake in EU democracy. A functioning EU relies on a well-informed public – you.
Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.
Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.