Libya: Remarks by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell upon arrival at the Berlin Conference on Libya

Check against delivery!

Good morning,

Today it is an important day for Libya. I really thank Germany and Minister [for Foreign Affairs of Germany] Heiko Maas for conveying this Conference, and also the United Nations.

Things are much better in Libya, but we have two important milestones ahead of us. We have to prepare the elections by the end of the year in order to give legitimacy to the government and we have to ensure that the ceasefire will continue. For that, we need the withdrawal of the foreign troops – all foreign troops. So, two important things: to hold elections and to keep the ceasefire.

We, at the European Union, are ready to engage and support it. Looking beyond, we have to help to build a functioning Libyan State. Only a functioning Libyan State can help us to control migration. It is a concern for us, it is a humanitarian problem, but it will not be solved without a fully functioning Libyan State. We are going to work on all that.

Talking about another thing, which is not going to take place here, I would like to express my concern about the situation in Tigray, in Ethiopia. Today [it was reported that] a military airstrike has caused a lot of civilian casualties. The situation there is appalling; we are going to talk about it at the next Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union.

Source: EU in Ethiopia