Europe angry over Operation IRINI’s failure, Turkey’s continued stubbornness in Libya

Hany Daniel

The Libyan crisis becomes more complex amid Turkish escalations and European attempts to exercise restraint with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But this has not prevented many voices from opposing the current European position and its inability to stop the entry of weapons into Libya, which is something that Turkey has been exploiting in its favor in recent weeks.

Experts view the European Union’s Operation IRINI to monitor the supply of weapons to the warring factions in Libya as being unsuccessful and that the operation lacks the necessary resources to fulfill its objective. Analysts believe that the EU’s military operation in the Mediterranean to stop the flow of arms to Libya has remained restricted and hampered by a lack of political cohesion and resources.

The UAE-based newspaper The National published an analysis pointing out that the 27-member EU bloc has been tasked with monitoring the air and sea space in the Mediterranean since last March as a cornerstone of the tactics to impose a long-standing arms embargo by the United Nations. However, this operation faltered in its early stages. Following Turkey’s decisive interference to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, Libya became filled with more weapons and foreign mercenaries than ever before.

In a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), analysts have identified factors that have prevented Operation IRINI from curbing the supply of weapons entering Libya and the limited scope of the mission in its current form, indicating that the EU’s limited political cohesion regarding Libya has hampered its ability to play a greater role in trying to end the conflict.

Operation IRINI was one of the central commitments of the European Union to implement the agreements concluded by international powers at the Berlin Summit on Libya in January, as supporting the arms embargo imposed on the country in 2011 was considered one of the main methods to ease tensions in the North African country.

Analysts said that despite the speed with which the operation was established, it has suffered from internal fighting among EU members, and many countries are still thinking about how to contribute. After Greek and French ships joined the operation at the end of May, Malta withdrew its participation.

This comes at a time when the GNA has criticized the operation, considering it supportive of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, as well as preventing the arrival of weapons and new fighters in Tripoli.

So far, Operation IRINI has succeeded in confronting 100 ships in connection with suspected violations of the arms embargo, although no arms seizures have been announced at all. Analysts said that the EU did not try to involve NATO forces in plans to reinforce the ineffective mission due to Turkey’s moves to prevent any such assistance, as it is a NATO member.

In response to Turkey’s continued attempts to violate UN agreements and resolutions regarding Libya, France, Germany, and Italy threatened sanctions to impose the embargo and renewed their continued commitment to Operation IRINI, despite European concerns about the continued problems of the nature of the mission, which could have far-reaching consequences.

French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump also discussed the developments in Libya and the European proposals in this regard.

Meanwhile, Voice of America has paid attention to developments in Libya, along with Egyptian reactions to the Turkish threats in Libya and the coordination between Cairo and Washington following a phone call between Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as the need to institute a ceasefire in Libya to prevent a further escalation of the ongoing conflict.

It was also referred to the unanimous approval of Egypt’s parliament to deploy members of the Egyptian armed forces on combat missions outside the country’s borders to protect Egyptian national security, which came after the Libyan parliament called on Egypt to intervene militarily “if necessary” because of “Turkey’s blatant interference in Libya” that violates the country’s sovereignty.

Libyan analyst Aya Burweila, visiting lecturer at Greece’s Hellenic National Defense College (HNDC), was quoted as saying that Egypt also depends on the Libyan tribal forces from all parts of the country to play a role in resolving the ongoing conflict, especially as Egypt “understands that political and social life in Libya is organized around the tribes” and that coordinating with them is necessary before taking any step.

Voice of America also monitored the recent deployment of French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off the coast of Sirte to monitor any possible advances by the Turkish-backed militias.

On the other side, the report noted that Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune renewed his country’s position to find a political solution to the Libyan conflict and that he is in daily contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Tunisian President Kais Saied, along with Turkish officials through Gulf mediators.

At the same time, Western reports have warned against Turkey, which has sent “thousands of fighters and mercenaries to fight, including mercenaries from Syria and Tunisia” in order to change the situation in Libya in favor of the GNA and to take advantage of Europe’s preoccupation with the repercussions of the corona pandemic, as well as Washington’s preoccupation with the upcoming presidential elections.