Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and the Libyan National Army’s offensive against Tripoli represents a threat to international peace, the European Union warned on Monday, May 13.
“The LNA military attack on Tripoli and the subsequent escalation in and around the capital constitutes a threat to international peace and security and further threatens the stability of Libya,” the E.U. Foreign Affairs Council said in a statement after a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.
“Furthermore, it enhances the risk of increased terrorist threat across the country.”
E.U. foreign ministers had earlier held talks on the crisis, which deepened dramatically last month when Haftar, whose LNA holds the east of the country, launched a bid to seize Tripoli, seat of the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord.
The statement, issued after E.U. ministers met the Libyan prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, also voiced concern about the “impact on migration flows” the fighting was having.
Libya, which has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 uprising that killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi, has long been a major transit route for migrants desperate to reach Europe.
Around 60 people died on the weekend when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean after leaving Libya for Italy.
With reporting from AFP