Recently, the President of the European Council said that the Libyan government must relinquish its power “without delay.”
The summit meeting of the European Union (EU), to be held this week, “will make clear to the Libyan authorities that violent acts against civilians must stop. Those responsible for such acts will face serious consequences. The government must relinquish power without delay,” said President Herman Van Rompuy.
Rompuy is actually asking for the resignation of Gaddafi. Such a request has never occurred in the history of the EU. It should also be noted that the EU has not acted the same way regarding similar situations in the past months: during recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, the EU simply asked for transition to democracy without turning against the leaders of those countries. Rompuy is now choosing to follow a different path, which seems much more aggressive, and it will be very interesting to see what the final outcome will be.
Some members of the EU did not stop at demanding that Gaddafi step down. The British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has been recognized by France as the legal representative of the Libyan people, stated that the members of the transitional National Council of the revolutionaries in Libya are “valid speakers.” The Ministry added that it aims to work with the Libyan National Council. “Britain recognizes nations and not governments. The temporary national council is a valid voice with which we would like to achieve cooperation,” said the spokesman of the Ministry to Reuters.
“We have made it clear that the Libyan leader Gaddafi must leave now. We are in close collaboration with our international allies in order to achieve this. We are considering a range of possibilities and are planning close collaboration with President Sarkozy and our other partners in tomorrow’s European Summit meeting,” he added.
Britain’s support for the rebels in Libya should not be surprising especially given France’s support. European countries want to foster peace in the Middle East as soon as possible, and the past month’s events have shown that accepting the revolutionaries is the only way to resolve the situation. Most European countries including Silvio Berlusconi’s Italy have agreed to follow this solution of recognizing the revolutionaries as legitimate representatives of the Libyan people.
However, the situation is not as easy as it looks. Germany is firmly opposed to this solution. Germany is acting independently and refuses to recognize the rebels. Specifically, the German government announced that recognition of the transitional National Council as a permanent authority is not a feasible solution. “We do not recognize a government, we recognize a nation,” stated a high-ranking officer of the German government. He added, “A council of the revolutionaries recognized by international law is not an option.” This directly contradicts the statement made by the British Ministry.
Such attitude shows the lack of union in Europe. This is especially significant because Germany, which is part of the minority that refuses to recognize the Libyan revolutionaries, is the economic driving force of the EU, and therefore its most powerful member. Germany is basing its argument on the fact that the National Council does not represent all of Libya, but rather a specific portion of the country’s population.
At the same time, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, János Martonyi, stated that meetings between EU officials and representatives of the transitional National Council show that in fact the EU has recognised the dissidents. “What is actually happening is recognition, since there have been meetings, as you are aware,” commented Martonyi, in statements made prior to the meeting with his European counterparts in Brussels on the issue of the crisis in Libya.
Martonyi was referring to the fact that two of the members of the Libyan transitional National Council met with the EU head of Foreign Affairs, Kathryn Ashton. “We are presently in contact with the National Council, which can be interpreted as recognition, which, however, is not legal recognition, but what I mean to say is that we should develop contact with the National Council,” said Martonyi.
Martonyi’s statements reveal that the EU has already taken action to get in contact with the revolutionaries. All of this shows that the EU is getting ready to recognize the National Council. And the question is, what about Germany? The Germans are totally against such a plan. What will happen? Will the EU change its initial plan because of Germany’s disapproval? Or will it continue based on the initial plan of recognizing the rebels?
As of now, the European Parliament voted for and asked for prohibition of flights in Libya’s air space and also for the recognition of the National Council of the Revolutionaries. This common resolution was voted with 584 votes in favor, 18 against and 18 abstaining, with the United European Left Wing Group being the only political group that voted against the resolution.
At the same time, Colonel Gaddafi accused the National Council of “treason,” labelling them as agents for the U.S., France and Britain. Of course these accusations are totally outlandish. Gaddafi is seeing his entire “reign” being ruined and the EU ready to recognize the new council, and is desperately trying everything to stop it. However, it does not seem that there is much left for him to do.
