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The countries of the Mediterranean reiterate their support for stability in Libya

At the Conference on Stability and Development in Libya organized by Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation

September 18, 2014

MADRID

On Tuesday, September 17, the Conference on Stability and Development in Libya, organized by Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, was held at the Palace of Viana, in order to further regional promotion of the international efforts aimed at seeking Libya’s stability and getting the role-players in the conflict to shift from a dynamic of armed confrontation to one of negotiation and dialogue.

Twenty-one ministers and representatives of countries and international organizations met to reaffirm their support for the Libyan people during these times of major crisis, emphasize the leadership of the United Nations, through Bernardino León, the special representative for Libya of Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, to seek an immediate ceasefire and the beginning of a national dialogue which makes it possible to complete the country’s political transition.

The Prime Minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish and Libyan Ministers of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García-Margallo and Mohamed Abdulaziz, and the Special Representative, Bernardino León, coincided in their opening speeches regarding the urgency held for the international community by the stabilization of Libya, whose crisis is having major economic and security-related repercussions.

All present agreed as to their profound concern about the humanitarian effects of the crisis, including the forced displacement of thousands of Libyan people, the trafficking of human beings, human rights violations and an increasing lack of security, and they condemned all forms of foreign interference.

The participants reiterated their commitment to the unity, sovereignty and territorial stability and integrity of Libya, as well as their conviction that there is no military solution to the current crisis.

They also expressed their support for the Libyan House of Representatives as the legitimate institution which must be able to bring all Libyans together and begin the essential inclusive dialogue so that all of the main role-players in Libya can reach a consensus as to the future of their country, which must be laid down in the form of a new constitution.

Minister García-Margallo defended the idea that Libya must remain a priority on the international agenda. The solution must come from the Libyans themselves, though the international community has the responsibility and obligation to provide them with support, and for that purpose it must increase the coordination of efforts and initiatives so that the Libyan people can be the masters of their own future and development.

List of those attending: Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Portugal, as the European countries; and for Africa: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia. The international organizations attending were the Arab League, the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and the Union for the Mediterranean.