By Gabriel Harrison.
Tunis, 24 August 2017:
Presidency Council (PC) deputy Ahmed Maetig and EU ambassador to Libya Bettina Muscheidt have had talks in Tripoli on the European Union’s support for education, health and local government programmes. Muscheidt also reasserted the EU’s support for the Presidency Council and its institutions.
Later, she had separate talks with the PC’s foreign minister Mohamed Siala after which she was reported by the Libyan news agency LANA saying that she was in Tripoli to prepare for the EU delegation to reopen its mission in the city.
The visit follows an appeal to the Europeans from PC head Faiez Serraj to do more to help Libya stem the flow of migrants through the country. He warned that if they did not, Europe would be at further risk from terrorism because of terrorists posing as migrants.
German ambassador Christian Buck also met Siala during the day. According to LANA he reiterated his country’s support for the Libyan Political Agreement and the efforts of the United Nations to help stabilise the country.
The two were also reported to have discussed the migrant issue.
Buck was in Tripoli just over a week ago when he met with Serraj and State Council President Abdulrahman Sewehli. He also met with navy chiefs to discuss German support for the Libyan coast guard and Libya’s search and rescue operations in regard to migrants at sea
