By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 26 October 2021:
The embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States continued to call for the removal of all foreign forces and mercenaries and for the holding of the 24 December elections. This came in a joint statement issued yesterday.
Here is their full joint statement:
We, the Embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States commend Libya for its successful hosting of the October 21 Stabilization Conference, which allowed senior officials from countries and organizations around the globe to converge on Tripoli and demonstrate their support for the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and national unity of Libya.
We join Libyan authorities in rejecting foreign interference in Libyan affairs, including the divisive and destabilizing role played by mercenaries, foreign fighters, and foreign forces, and underscore the need for all parties to adhere to international law. We applaud the patriotism and commitment of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC), which presented on its comprehensive Action Plan for the withdrawal of mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces from Libyan territory at the October 21 Stabilization Conference. We view the JMC 5+5 action plan, signed on October 8th, as consistent with the Ceasefire Agreement of 23 October 2020, United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2570 (2021) and 2571(2021) and the outcomes of the Berlin Conferences.
The Libyan hosted October 21 conference allowed the world to recognize the great potential for Libya should its positive trajectory continue towards the holding of Presidential and Parliamentary elections on December 24th. Such elections, as determined in the Roadmap of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Tunis in November 2020, and asserted in UNSC Resolution 2570, are an essential step in further stabilizing and uniting Libya, and their results should be respected by all.
On the basis of those two elections, the Libyan institutions and leaders will have a fresh mandate from the people that will allow them to fulfill important duties such as improving infrastructure, providing medical care, and ensuring Libyan youth receive a quality education.
We are committed to cooperating with Libya on important shared challenges such as terrorism, migration, climate change and protection of the environment. Improved stability in Libya will also lead to increased investment, which in turn creates jobs and improves livelihoods for all Libyans.
We welcome the actions by the GNU as confirmed during the October 21st conference to facilitate the preparations for the holding of elections, especially providing the adequate funding for HNEC and necessary security measures. We recognize the importance of election security and urge government institutions to invest in protecting the integrity of elections and we call on Libyan leaders to respect the elections process. We welcome the announcement yesterday by the head of the High National Elections Commission that the Endorsement List forms required for presidential and parliamentary candidates will be published by HNEC, an important development for those wishing to be candidates, as outlined in the HNEC implementation plan. We reiterate our support to HNEC as it conducts its mandate in full independence and we urge all actors to heed its technical advice and respect its expertise; we condemn all actors who undermine its action by threat or obstruction.
We recall that individuals or entities engaging in, or providing support for acts that threaten the peace, stability or security of Libya or that obstruct or undermine the successful completion of its political transition, may be designated by the Committee established pursuant to paragraph 24 of resolution 1970 (2011) for the travel ban and asset freeze measures.
We believe Libyans are ready to enjoy the prosperity that comes with both stability and accountable leadership, and we urge all of Libya’s current leaders to recognize this and to work toward free and fair elections on December 24.
