Borel says the EU can “do more” to help Libya’s polls – EURACTIV.com

EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell said in Tripoli on Wednesday (September 8) that the EU is “ready to take more steps” to help Libya organize the elections planned for December.

However, Borel said at a press conference with Libyan Foreign Minister Najira Mangush, “There is no time to waste time to approve the necessary legislation, enter the parliament, and start doing the necessary for the December 24 vote. Ready to work”.

Since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Brussels disintegrated and replaced it with a patchwork of militias and armed groups. Borel listed “safe zone reform” as One area where Brussels can help.

This oil-rich country split into two hostile governments supported by foreign powers and countless militias.

But after the eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar’s forces withdrew from the western part of the country last year, the two camps signed a ceasefire agreement in Geneva in October and established an interim government earlier this year to lead Libya conducts opinion polls.

However, as tensions resurfaced, the lack of a constitutional framework put the vote into question.

Mangush refused last month to rule out the possibility of postponing the election if Parliament took too long to pass the necessary legislation.

Borrell praised the “great progress” made in the past year and warned that the “time is flying by” to formulate the rules, and only 105 days are left.

“Now is the time to implement and consolidate this progress,” he said.

Mangush stated that Tripoli also hopes to “cooperate more with the European Union” on elections and “management of the leaky southern border”.