It must be avoided that Libya become “a country of irreversible widespread and permanent conflict”, asserted Minister for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini in Florence in the margins of a conference at the Palazzo Vecchio entitled “The future of Europe. The role of governments and local agencies in the integration process”, organised by the European University Institute.
The situation in Libya is, primarily, of deep concern, Mogherini pointed out, and we are monitoring it with extreme apprehension and very closely. It is a much more complex situation than it appears to be. We are coordinating within the EU, but I have also discussed it with Ban Ki-moon in New York; international efforts to support any form of dialogue and national reconciliation are extremely difficult and exhausting, the minister continued. Libya is at a crossroads at this moment. It could attempt the road to national reconciliation, elections and constitutional reform; the Libyans need to be accompanied and supported in their efforts, this is the only way.
Ukraine, internal OSCE-led dialogue
I observed, Minister Mogherini stated, that Putin ordered the withdrawal of troops from the Ukraine border, let’s see if his orders are backed up by action. It is, however, a fact that an internal OSCE-led dialogue has been launched; a small, but difficult and exhausting, process involving the various segments of Ukraine society is going on and I believe that it can be instrumental in creating the conditions for elections leading to full legitimacy.
Important to rekindle EU-Russia partnership
What is important for us is that the Ukraine crisis is resolved and the partnership between the EU and the Russian Federation and between NATO and the Russian Federation rekindled, the minister underscored. We are in a phase of revision of EU-Russian relations and, even more importantly, relations between NATO and the Russian Federation. We are convinced, she underscored, that the solution to the problems must come through international cooperation and not through conflict. It is our hope that next Sunday’s elections will be the start of a season of relative calm in that country, of institutional reforms inclusion, democracy and neighbourhood relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
