EU Involvement in Libyan Civil War

What happened?

February Revolution/Libyan Civil War (February-October 2011)

February 15, 2011 marks the beginning of the Libyan Civil War. On this day in 2011, rallies broke out in Benghazi to protest the arrest of a human rights lawyer, a call for the resignation of dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, and the release of political prisoners. In order to quell the disturbances caused by the protests, Libyan security forces were deployed and used rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the crowds. Initial efforts to control the crowds failed so the government resorted to more violent means. The government decided to use “lethal force” and deployed “tanks and artillery and from the air with warplanes and helicopter gunships” as well as restricting “communications, blocking the Internet and interrupting telephone service throughout the country (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.) . The use of violence by the government did not go over well with the international community. “Foreign leaders and human rights organizations” condemned the Libyan government’s actions (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). Gaddafi responded by denying “having used force against protesters” but “repeatedly vowed to use violence to remain in power”(Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). Eventually, protesters with the help of military defectors were able to acquire weapons and form their own militarized group and later on proclaim themselves as the “sole representative of Libya” called the National Transitional Council (NTC). The NTC gains on Gaddafi's forces and takes control of Tripoli, that were under pro-regime forces for months. Ultimately, the United Nations General Assembly “votes to recognize the TNC as the representative of the Libyan people in the UN” and to “lift some of the sanctions imposed on Libya” (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). This gives the TNC the momentum they need to finally topple Gaddafi's regime. On October 20, 2011, rebels forces manage to capture and kill Gaddafi and UN Security Council pulls a plug on all military operations as well as lifting all sanctions previously placed during Gaddafi’s regime.

"Protesters at a rally in Banghāzī in March 2011 carrying the Libyan flag that was used from 1951 to 1969. The flag was adopted by the rebels in 2011" (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Second Libyan Civil War (2014-present)

Unfortunately, the turmoil did not end with the death of Gaddafi and the end of his reign. Competing militias are fighting for control of different parts of the country. In August 2014, Islamic militias and their allies Libya Dawn, took control of the Tripoli National Airport and later took control of the capitol from the nationalists. This resulted in the forming of two different governments inside the country, one of which is in Tripoli, and the other in the eastern part of the country, centralized in Tobruk. This turned from small fighting to an all out war in June of 2014 when Islamists lost parliamentary elections. Rather than acknowledging the result, they said that it was unconstitutional, saying that parliament was monopolized by Gaddafi supporters. To add on to the internal struggle, outside forces also had a hand in the outcome of the conflict. The Islamists are receiving aid from other countries in the Middle East like Egypt, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia (Tharoor & Taylor, 2014). Diplomats are fearing a spread of revolution to other countries in the region and the potential destruction of Libya as a country (Stephen 2014).This conflict has continued until today and has come to encompass a variety of other actors from all around the international community.

EU Actions

Intervention by the EU was during the war when Gaddafi was alive through the use of foreign policy. The foreign policies that Libya had set forth were seen as weak especially by more powerful countries. But the weak policies were seen as the beginning of the gaining of foreign expertise of the maintenance as development of oil infrastructure and attention from foreign investments. Both of which would only benefited the country. When the EU were certain weapons of mass destruction was not a target towards them, Libyans grew more secure with protection from the EU. The opening of an EU office in Benghazi by Vice President of the Commission of the EU commission, Catherine Ashton, once again emphasized the protection the EU had towards Libya. The purpose of the commission is to propose new laws, manage and maintains funding in the EU, enforces laws, and international representation. The commission wished to provide aid towards Libya and protection for Europeans. The EU wishes to continue to support Libya today by help aiding in their necessities such as migration, health, and education.

Analysis of EU Involvement

Who is involved and Why? 

The EU originally got involved so that they could organize an undivided government that was ruled from the capitol. The primary goal was to look out for the security of the Mediterranean with all of the chaos going on. Their secondary objective was to focus on and regulate the migration and development of Libya during and after this civil war. After getting rid of Gadaffi, the EU approved of the UN. They also assisted in Tripoli’s government to stay together to reduce the number of immigrants coming into Europe.

France had an important part in this whole ordeal. They sent special forces and military advisors over there. And on top of that, they wanted the EU to send in their navy and to go to Libyan waters for a mission. 

Italy has Since 2014 had more than 400,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy. Additionally, the objective of the mission approved on August 2, 2017, by the Italian parliament is to assist Libyan forces in the “fight against illegal immigration and human smuggling” through reconnaissance, surveillance, and sharing intelligence. 

Add 

Migrants on a boat that they tried to take to Italy, after being detained at a Libyan Navy base in Tripoli on September 20, 2015.

  (HRW)

Effects of EU involvement 

This conflict does not only affect Libya, but also NATO countries and the Mediterranean community especially. With all of the chaos going on, more people are migrating from Arab countries to European countries. When fighting began in 2011, a great amount of migrants left Libya to go to European countries. Some describe it as the “ largest since the first Gulf War in 1990” (Seeberg, n.d.). The International Organization for Migration (IOM) states that, by November 2011, over a million people have fled Libya. However, before people started to get out of Libya, people did their best to get in. When the global economy went down the drain in 2008, the only markets that did not take too big of a hit was oil, and oil is a huge part of Libya’s economy. So people fled their homelands for Libya and other oil producing countries. When crisis eventually hit in 2011, these migrant workers then had to escape Libya and head for Europe. This means that it is not only Libyans entering Europe, but people from all over Africa and the Middle East. This problem has the EU scrambling to find solutions. There are lots of talk about these solutions, however, whether or not they actually come about is another thing (Seeberg, n.d.).

Should the EU be responsible for the aftermath since they were pushing war?

It may be best for Libya to not pick up the pieces alone. Since the EU and NATO were involved in the war in the first place, and they do hold some responsibility. It is also not entirely impossible for the EU to help either. One issue may be migration, since there is so much turmoil in these areas, many are migrating to the more peaceful European countries. This is not the first time this has happened, and with past waves of migration, leaders talked about a sort of “Marshall Plan for Africa” (Wintour 2017). The plan would be to create a “development package” (Wintour 2017) large enough to create more jobs at the homes of the people contemplating migration. These jobs would urge these people to stay at home. Although there have been talks about this, an actual project has never been developed(Wintour 2017)

Other options are available, luckily. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, thinks setting up “hot spots” (Wintour 2017) could possibly be a good idea. These hot spots would be set up in locations like Chad and Niger because refugees can apply for asylum here without having to cross any seas, which is always a danger to the refugees. Although this seems like a good idea, these countries, like EU countries, are not jumping with joy at the idea of increasing their migration numbers(Wintour 2017).

Reference

Emmott, Robin (25 May 2016). “Germany, France hold back NATO, EU ambitions in Libya”. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-nato-eu-analysis/germany-france-hold-back-nato-eu-ambitions-in-libya-idUSKCN0YG18Z 

Encyclopedia Britannica (n.d.) “Libya Revolt Of 2011”. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/event/Libya-Revolt-of-2011#toc300035.

Robins-Early, Nick (7 March 2015). “Was The 2011 Libya Intervention A Mistake?”. The
Huffington Post: The Worldpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/07/libya-intervention-daalder_n_6809756.html

Seeberg, Peter (n.d.). “EU Strategic Interests in Post-Qadhafi Libya: Perspectives for Cooperation.”Middle East Policy Council, www.mepc.org/eu-strategic-interests-post-qadhafi-libya-perspectives-cooperation.

Stephen, Chris (August 2014).”War In Libya - The Guardian Briefing”. The Guardian, Guardian News and Media. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/29/-sp-briefing-war-in-libya#img-4.

Tharoor, Ishaan, & Taylor, Adam (27 August 2014). Here Are The Key Players Fighting The War For Libya, All Over Again. Washington Post: World Views. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/08/27/here-are-the-key-players-fighting-the-war-for-libya-all-over-again/?utm_term=.1d085f93774d

Wintour, Patrick (1 Feb. 2017). “Libya May Allow EU Ships to Pursue People-Smugglers in Its Waters.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/01/nato-eu-ships-tackle-people-trafficking-libya-mediterranean-refugees-migrants.