Merkel & Guterres announce results of Libya peace talks in Berlin

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The powers commit to ending foreign interference in Libya.

Russia, Turkey, USA, the European Union and Egypt agree to a permanent ceasefire and a verifiable arms embargo.

Stop the military and political interference of foreign powers in the Libyan powder magazine. That is the commitment that on Sunday reached the leaders of Russia, Turkey, Germany, Italy and France among other countries involved in the Libyan conflict and gathered in Berlin this Sunday at a summit of extraordinary relevance. Attendees aspire to have laid the first stone of a peace process, which first passes through a permanent ceasefire and a verifiable arms embargo. But the goal in Berlin has been above all to force the sides faced by the control of the country and the oil industry to stop receiving military aid from abroad in a conflict with more and more secondary actors that feed on weapons and troops. That is to say,

The impact of this agreement and the fulfillment of the ceasefire will depend largely on the will of the rival Libyan leaders who did not sit at the UN-sponsored negotiating table in Berlin.

"All participants have pledged not to provide military support or weapons and to respect the arms embargo and truce," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference at the end of the meeting. "All participants have pledged to give up interference in the armed conflict and internal affairs of Libya," said United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. "There was a real risk of a regional escalation and that has been prevented today in Berlin," he added.

The top representatives of the Libyan contest, Fayez Serraj, head of the National Agreement Government and the strong man in Libya, Jalifa Hafter,They did not properly participate in the conference, but they did travel to Berlin, where they met with Merkel. “The differences are of such magnitude that there has not been a meeting between them. Geographically they have been in Berlin, but not in the same room, ”added the chancellor. In addition to them, Vladimir Putin (Russia), Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey), Boris Johnson (United Kingdom), Emmanuel Macron (France), Giuseppe Conte (Italy) Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell (European Union), Mike have attended Pompeo (United States), Ghassan Salamé (UN) and Merkel, as host of a summit that has been held at the headquarters of the German Government under strong security measures.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in charge of reducing any triumphant temptation. "The conference has been very useful [...] but it is clear that we have not yet managed to launch a serious and stable dialogue," between Hafter and El Serraj. A committee with military personnel appointed by both sides and sponsored by the UN will be responsible for monitoring ceasefire compliance.

The extraordinary alignment of this quote gives an idea of the urgency and severity of the situation on the Libyan terrain, with the advance of Hafter's forces at the gates of Tripoli. In the last hours, the marshal has ordered the cessation of oil production, which has triggered pressure on the Executive of El Serraj. But the relevance of this Sunday's meeting denoted above all the potential shock wave of a conflict capable of dynamiting regional and global balances. "If we do not control the situation there, the entire region can be destabilized," Josep Borrell, senior representative of Foreign Policy of the European Union (EU), told the press. "This is not an isolated appointment, this is the beginning of a process,"

Each side has the support of powerful supporters inside and outside the region. On the one hand, the Government of El Serraj National Agreement is supported by the UN in Tripoli and is supported by Turkey, Qatar and the European Union. On the other, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the United States and France also support Marshal Hafter, a strong man from eastern Libya, whom they consider capable of stabilizing the country and curbing jihadism. In this context, Moscow and Ankara have become the main foreign actors in the country, without which no peace agreement will be possible.

The text that has been negotiated this Sunday contemplates in point six: "we commit ourselves to refrain from interfering in the armed conflict in Libya and demand all international actors to do the same," according to the final decree of the conference. During the summit, President Macron has called for the cessation of sending Syrian militiamen to support the Government of El Serraj. “I must convey to you the deep restlessness caused by the arrival of Syrian and foreign fighters in the city of Tripoli. This must cease, ”said the French president. “The parties fighting in the Libyan civil war can only fight each other because they receive military support from abroad. We have to stop it so that Libya does not become the new Syria, ”

Erdogan has recently announced the sending of soldiers to Libya to support the unity government in the face of Hafter's offensive against Tripoli. A UN source cited by the Reuters agency has spoken of 2,000 combatants from the Syrian civil war. Russian and African mercenaries also feed the Libyan conflict.

The agreed document asks "all the countries involved to redouble their efforts to achieve the cessation of hostilities, the end of the escalation and a permanent ceasefire." It also requires “the unequivocal and total respect of the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council”

Already in Berlin before the conference began, El Serraj has asked the international community to act. "If Jalifa Hafter does not cease this offensive, the international community has to take action, including an international force to protect the Libyan civilian population," Welt am Sonntag told the media . “The European Union has to be self-critical. They have arrived too late, ”he said in reference to the division that has fragmented the European position. The president of the European council, Charles Michel, recalled the objectives of the meeting in Berlin: "It is time to consolidate a ceasefire, respect the United Nations arms embargo and relaunch a political process."

Refugees To the possibility that troops from any of these countries end up confronted on the Libyan ground, European and German and, above all, Italian and German concerns add to the fact that chaos in the country aggravates the migratory situation at the doors of the EU and a phenomenon similar to that of 2015 was just triggered, when more than one million asylum seekers arrived in Germany.

Libya has not regained stability after the fall of the dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, but for nine months, fighting between the armed groups has gained new intensity in a country where misgovernment reigns. The arms and people traffickers have taken advantage of the chaos and have turned the African country into a starting platform in the Mediterranean for the EU.

Despite the spectacular political choreography that has made Berlin this Sunday the capital of world diplomacy, the truth is that expectations are deliberately reduced to avoid a subsequent sense of failure. The one in Berlin is only a first step, but it aspires to be solid.

The German Government has invested enormous political capital in a process that it considers crucial for the stability of Europe and that can also provide collateral benefits. Berlin wants to demonstrate that multilateralist discourse is capable of delivering results and that the military route is not an option, in times of nationalism and growing questioning of international cooperation.

https://elpais.com/internacional/2020/01/19/actualidad/1579425987_188845.html

**The powers commit to ending foreign interference in Libya.** *Russia, Turkey, USA, the European Union and Egypt agree to a permanent ceasefire and a verifiable arms embargo.* Stop the military and political interference of foreign powers in the Libyan powder magazine. That is the commitment that on Sunday reached the leaders of Russia, Turkey, Germany, Italy and France among other countries involved in the Libyan conflict and gathered in Berlin this Sunday at a summit of extraordinary relevance. Attendees aspire to have laid the first stone of a peace process, which first passes through a permanent ceasefire and a verifiable arms embargo. But the goal in Berlin has been above all to force the sides faced by the control of the country and the oil industry to stop receiving military aid from abroad in a conflict with more and more secondary actors that feed on weapons and troops. That is to say, The impact of this agreement and the fulfillment of the ceasefire will depend largely on the will of the rival Libyan leaders who did not sit at the UN-sponsored negotiating table in Berlin. "All participants have pledged not to provide military support or weapons and to respect the arms embargo and truce," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference at the end of the meeting. "All participants have pledged to give up interference in the armed conflict and internal affairs of Libya," said United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. "There was a real risk of a regional escalation and that has been prevented today in Berlin," he added. The top representatives of the Libyan contest, Fayez Serraj, head of the National Agreement Government and the strong man in Libya, Jalifa Hafter,They did not properly participate in the conference, but they did travel to Berlin, where they met with Merkel. “The differences are of such magnitude that there has not been a meeting between them. Geographically they have been in Berlin, but not in the same room, ”added the chancellor. In addition to them, Vladimir Putin (Russia), Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey), Boris Johnson (United Kingdom), Emmanuel Macron (France), Giuseppe Conte (Italy) Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell (European Union), Mike have attended Pompeo (United States), Ghassan Salamé (UN) and Merkel, as host of a summit that has been held at the headquarters of the German Government under strong security measures. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in charge of reducing any triumphant temptation. "The conference has been very useful [...] but it is clear that we have not yet managed to launch a serious and stable dialogue," between Hafter and El Serraj. A committee with military personnel appointed by both sides and sponsored by the UN will be responsible for monitoring ceasefire compliance. The extraordinary alignment of this quote gives an idea of the urgency and severity of the situation on the Libyan terrain, with the advance of Hafter's forces at the gates of Tripoli. In the last hours, the marshal has ordered the cessation of oil production, which has triggered pressure on the Executive of El Serraj. But the relevance of this Sunday's meeting denoted above all the potential shock wave of a conflict capable of dynamiting regional and global balances. "If we do not control the situation there, the entire region can be destabilized," Josep Borrell, senior representative of Foreign Policy of the European Union (EU), told the press. "This is not an isolated appointment, this is the beginning of a process," Each side has the support of powerful supporters inside and outside the region. On the one hand, the Government of El Serraj National Agreement is supported by the UN in Tripoli and is supported by Turkey, Qatar and the European Union. On the other, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the United States and France also support Marshal Hafter, a strong man from eastern Libya, whom they consider capable of stabilizing the country and curbing jihadism. In this context, Moscow and Ankara have become the main foreign actors in the country, without which no peace agreement will be possible. The text that has been negotiated this Sunday contemplates in point six: "we commit ourselves to refrain from interfering in the armed conflict in Libya and demand all international actors to do the same," according to the final decree of the conference. During the summit, President Macron has called for the cessation of sending Syrian militiamen to support the Government of El Serraj. “I must convey to you the deep restlessness caused by the arrival of Syrian and foreign fighters in the city of Tripoli. This must cease, ”said the French president. “The parties fighting in the Libyan civil war can only fight each other because they receive military support from abroad. We have to stop it so that Libya does not become the new Syria, ” Erdogan has recently announced the sending of soldiers to Libya to support the unity government in the face of Hafter's offensive against Tripoli. A UN source cited by the Reuters agency has spoken of 2,000 combatants from the Syrian civil war. Russian and African mercenaries also feed the Libyan conflict. The agreed document asks "all the countries involved to redouble their efforts to achieve the cessation of hostilities, the end of the escalation and a permanent ceasefire." It also requires “the unequivocal and total respect of the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council” Already in Berlin before the conference began, El Serraj has asked the international community to act. "If Jalifa Hafter does not cease this offensive, the international community has to take action, including an international force to protect the Libyan civilian population," Welt am Sonntag told the media . “The European Union has to be self-critical. They have arrived too late, ”he said in reference to the division that has fragmented the European position. The president of the European council, Charles Michel, recalled the objectives of the meeting in Berlin: "It is time to consolidate a ceasefire, respect the United Nations arms embargo and relaunch a political process." Refugees To the possibility that troops from any of these countries end up confronted on the Libyan ground, European and German and, above all, Italian and German concerns add to the fact that chaos in the country aggravates the migratory situation at the doors of the EU and a phenomenon similar to that of 2015 was just triggered, when more than one million asylum seekers arrived in Germany. Libya has not regained stability after the fall of the dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, but for nine months, fighting between the armed groups has gained new intensity in a country where misgovernment reigns. The arms and people traffickers have taken advantage of the chaos and have turned the African country into a starting platform in the Mediterranean for the EU. Despite the spectacular political choreography that has made Berlin this Sunday the capital of world diplomacy, the truth is that expectations are deliberately reduced to avoid a subsequent sense of failure. The one in Berlin is only a first step, but it aspires to be solid. The German Government has invested enormous political capital in a process that it considers crucial for the stability of Europe and that can also provide collateral benefits. Berlin wants to demonstrate that multilateralist discourse is capable of delivering results and that the military route is not an option, in times of nationalism and growing questioning of international cooperation. https://elpais.com/internacional/2020/01/19/actualidad/1579425987_188845.html

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