Speaking at a conference entitled “Developments in the Libyan Crisis” organized by the Brussels International Research Center, European Parliament Member Javier Nart said that the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) alliance with Turkey discredited the UN-recognized government from being the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
Nart believes that this alliance hurts the Libyan people and unfairly favours the power dynamics by which armed groups can control state funds and national resources. Nart claimed that the residents of eastern Libya overwhelmingly supported peace and stability and saw Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) as the only viable proposal out there.
He also mentioned that internally displaced persons and migrants were steadily leaving the areas controlled by the GNA due to the violence. By contrast, he argued that eastern Libya and areas under the eastern-based Interim Government’s control enjoyed relative stability.
Nart said that the legitimacy of the GNA was “absurd through a political and legal perspective”. He added that no government in Libya could be legitimate without the approval of the House of Representatives in Tobruk.
He stressed that Fayez Al-Sarraj, the Prime Minister of the GNA, controlled a loose coalition of militias that, until recently, had been fighting one another.
Nart stated that the failure of Western countries to reach an agreement with the LNA omitted the facts on the ground.
The real strength of the army and security services lies with the LNA, according to Nart, who pointed out that the LNA controls the the country’s oil facilities.
The Director of the Brussels International Center for Research and Human Rights, Ramadan Abu Jazar, pointed out the importance of the points mentioned by Javier Nart, particularly regarding the need to establish a new unified EU policy towards Libya.
This would enhance peace opportunities, restore stability, bring an end to the fighting, implement the provisions of the Berlin Conference, and allow for the enforcment of the UN arms embargo.
Abu Jazar concluded that the Center would issue its recommendations next week, which will be presented to European decision makers, such as the European Commission, the European Council, the Presidency of the European Parliament, as well as the United Nations, NATO, and several countries in the region.
The conference was attended by representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the UN, and top international research and humanitarian centers.
The conference is part of a series of studies within the program “Rethinking security from a European perspective 2020” which is the largest project of the Brussels International Research Center for 2020.