The delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany strongly believes that the sensitive situation in Libya would be best solved through diplomacy. The civil war in Libya was instigated when the dictator Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. The House of Representatives of Libya , has been fighting with a rival force, the GNA or Government of National Accord, which has been endorsed by the UN, which forced the HoR to move to Tobruk from Tripoli.[1] Further escalation of conflict would be extremely destabilizing. Any foreign presence in this sensitive region could further destabilize the current civil war and undermine further attempts to bring peace to this highly unstable area. The Federal Republic of Germany made the decision in 2011 to not get involved in military action against the dictator Gaddafi and the delegation of Germany still stands by this decision[2] The government of Germany continues to avoid conflict. The delegation of Germany realizes combat can be a useful tool in extenuating circumstances, but the risk of failure is just too great to risk intervention. However, the delegation of Germany does not believe that Libya should be left to fall further into civil war. Germany believes that the UN must act on behalf of the legitimate government of Libya at Tobruk.[3] Germany also believes that greater attention needs to be paid to the local violators of the international arms embargo on Libya. These governments, such as the UAE and Turkey, further destabilize the situation in Libya facilitating the importation of arms, which could intensify the combat indefinitely.[4]
The delegation of Germany believes that there should be strong diplomatic support for the GNA at Tripoli, coupled with denouncing of the HoR and IS forces within Libya. In addition, violators of the arms embargo should be denounced, with the threat of sanctions. This will aid in drying up the flow of weapons and munitions to Libyan factions, and thereby disable the war, perhaps permanently. Additionally, the UN should take greater diplomatic action to help facilitate its goal of national elections in Libya by 2019, so that the GNA’s legitimacy cannot be questioned, and the possibility of a peaceful Libya grows.[5]
[1] Malone, Barry. “Gaddafi Killed in Hometown, Libya Eyes Future.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 20 Oct. 2011, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya/gaddafi-killed-in-hometown-libya-eyes-future-idUSTRE79F1FK20111020.
[2] Herf, Jeffrey. “Berlin Ghosts.” The New Republic, The New Republic, 24 Mar. 2011, https://newrepublic.com/article/85702/germany-libya-intervention-qaddafi-merkel
[3] “UK, Germany Affirm Support to Libyan Government of National Accord.” Middle East Monitor, 4 Apr. 2017, https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170404-uk-germany-affirm-support-to-libyan-government-of-national-accord/.
[4] Wintour, Patrick. “Germany Plans Libya Conference to shore up Arms Embargo.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Sept. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/13/germany-plans-libya-conference-to-shore-up-arms-embargo.
- Jameson Gerrits
