Did the Libya conference make a breakthrough? Foreign Minister Maas is confident: “We have never been this far in recent years.” Others warn: Putin and Erdogan have no interest in peace at all.
The guests
- Heiko Maas (SPD), Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs
- Sevim Dagdelen (Die Linke), member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag
- Hanan Salah, Libya rapporteur at Human Rights Watch
- Wolfram Lacher, political scientist, Science and Politics Foundation
- Christoph von Marschall, diplomatic correspondent from the “Tagesspiegel”
The positions
Secretary of State Heiko Maas evaluates the outcome of the Berlin Libya conference as a great success. The civil war parties would no longer receive any outside support. “That was the real aim of this conference and we achieved it,” said Maas. “We have never been this far in recent years.” The Foreign Minister admitted: “Of course everything took too long” and the summit was only a first step. “It is now up to us to make the paper a reality,” said the SPD politician. “The first thing we have to do is keep the guns silent.” Only the end of the civil war creates the prerequisites for the rule of law and compliance with human rights.
In the round there was praise for the efforts of the Federal government, However, doubts prevailed as to whether the summit actually brought about the change of heart conjured up by the Meuse. Libya is the scene of one of the great proxy wars. The United Nations recognized government under Fajis al-Sarradsch is supported primarily by Turkey. General Chalifa Haftar controls most of the country – also thanks to the help from Russia.
How confident is he that these supporters will withdraw from Libya? Anne Will asked Wolfram Lacher. “So far there are no signs of this,” the expert replied after the Berlin conference. “We have to see clearly that a country like Russia is currently not interested in having peace in Libya,” said Christoph von Marschall. The same applies to Turkey.
“The states agreed on a text today, but the actual positions of these states have not changed at all,” says @W_Lacher about the results of the #Libyenkonferenz, #AnneWill #Libya pic.twitter.com/oCU3F5Qo6A
– ANNE WILL talk show (@AnneWillTalk) January 19, 2020
“Nice that you signed that,” said the “Tagesspiegel” journalist, referring to the Berlin resolutions. But of course Russian militias would not withdraw from Libya now. The decisive factor is whether the arms embargo will finally be enforced in the future with sharper means.
The question of the evening
Who is going to enforce this? Will finally asked Maas directly. For the next few weeks, the Foreign Minister saw a need for discussion between the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and the Arab League: “The responsibility may be shared between different international organizations.” defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had a stake in armed forces brought into play in Libya. Maas said: “Of course, we cannot simply take responsibility for implementing this process.” But sending the European military to Africa is extremely problematic for many African Union countries.
“I am not sure that the African states and the African Union are so well received,” says @HeikoMaas on possible military action by the European Union in #Libyaas brought into play by the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. #AnneWill pic.twitter.com/U36j4rahPc
– ANNE WILL talk show (@AnneWillTalk) January 19, 2020
Left-wing politician Sevim Dagdelen rejected military action by European countries. “I think that’s fatal,” she said. “You cannot be the arsonist and take over the monitoring of the arms embargo at the same time,” she criticized with regard to France, which – contrary to the official EU line – should have supported General Haftar. Lacher believes that the division and weakness of the EU and its failure to intervene made it possible for Russia and Turkey to position themselves there.
The quote of the evening
Germany’s commitment to peace in Libya also lies in the importance of the Mediterranean region for the flow of refugees from Africa to Europe. Human rights activist Hanan Salah accused the EU of Lifeboat in the hands of militias. Europe had to do this very own task again. Dagdelen saw it that way too. The so-called coast guard consists of Islamist militias who send people back to “hell camps”, which violates European law: “Anyone who works with such militias destroys the European idea.”
“The federal government could set a good example and arms exports to #LibyaCountries just stop war, “says @SevimDagdelen at #AnneWill, #LibyenKonferenz pic.twitter.com/I0oZZp5iAa
– ANNE WILL talk show (@AnneWillTalk) January 19, 2020
The fact check
Why is Libya so interesting for Russia and Turkey? This crucial question is explained by experts both geopolitically and ideologically. That’s how President wanted Recep Tayyip Erdogan strengthen Turkey with the support of the government of al-Sarraj as a counterweight to the regional powers Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. They in turn support General Haftar, who has positioned himself as an opponent of the Islamists. The Russian president Wladimir Putin According to observers, Libya is also using it to further weaken the position of the West.
Again and again it is all about one thing: petroleum. Libya has the largest oil reserves on the African continent. According to BP’s annual energy report, it amounted to 2.8 percent of total proven inventories worldwide at the end of 2018. That was three and a half times as much oil as can be found all over Europe. For comparison: the United States came to 3.5 percent of the world’s oil reserves, according to the report. In natural gas, Libya ranks fourth in Africa with 0.7 percent and is on par with India.
Dagdelen ‘s conclusion “Of course it is also about a proxy war of the oil companies” met with little response in the group.
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