Arab, European leaders call to preserve Libya’s unity and sovereignty

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The first Arab-European summit, hosted in the Egyptian city of Charm el-Cheikh, ended on Monday with the adoption of a final declaration, underlining the need to preserve the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Libya, Syria and Yemen, and to conform to the efforts made by the UN in that regard. The declaration also expressed the support of the Arab and European leaders to the UN efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis and implement the Libyan political deal. A political deal was signed in December in the Moroccan city of Skhirat by the different actors of the Libyan crisis, under the aegis of the UN support mission in Libya (UNSMIL), focusing on power sharing within the framework of a political transition meant to give the country strong institutions. However, divergences prevented the implementation of the deal, aggravating the political crisis in the country. The first Arab league-European Union summit called all parties involved in the Libyan crisis to engage in the efforts made by the UN to reach the democratic transformation process and end the escalation that disrupts the security and stability of the Libyan cities. The representative of the UN Secretary General, Ghassan Salame, also head of UNSMIL, elaborated an action plan to get Libya out of its crisis that includes a national inclusive conference on consensus between Libyans on the electoral agenda that also includes parliamentary elections, a constitutional referendum and a presidential election late this year. But the plan has met a deadlock because of the persistence of divergences between protagonists, causing a delay in the holding of the inclusive conference that was due for early January. The first Arab-European summit decided, through consensus between the two parties, to strengthen economic cooperation and establish strong partnership on investment and sustainable development among member countries of the Arab league and the European Union. The Arab and European leaders announced their agreement on the holding of regular rotating summits between Arab and European countries, the next summit being scheduled for 2022 in Brussels. -0-PANA BY/BEH/MSA/VVAO 26Feb2019