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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 14 June 2021:
In the lead up to the second Berlin Conference, UNSMIL reported Friday that its head, Jan Kubis, continued his engagements with national and international stakeholders to mobilize further support for the multi-track UN-facilitated, Libyan-led, and Libyan owned political process.
During these engagements Kubis emphasized the importance of holding inclusive Presidential and Parliamentary elections on 24 December 2021 and of starting the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign forces from Libya.
At the national level, the Kubis held a series of telephone calls with several Libyan interlocutors including Prime Minister Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba, and the Commander of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LNA), Khalifa Haftar.
During his visit to Moscow from 7- 9 June, Kubis held a series of meetings with senior officials of the Russian Government, notably with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, who also kindly hosted a working lunch and with Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
In his meetings, Kubis emphasized the imperative of holding the national elections on 24 December 2021 and the expectation that Libya’s House of Representatives (HoR) will swiftly enact the necessary constitutional and electoral legislative basis. They also discussed preparations for the second ministerial-level Berlin Conference on 23 June.
While in Moscow, Kubis held a separate meeting with visiting Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey Sedat Onal. Prior to that, in a joint meeting with DFM Mikhail Bogdanov and DFM Sedat Onal he briefed about his, UNSMIL’s and other international activities in furtherance of the objectives of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) Roadmap and UNSC Resolutions, including Resolution 2570 (2021). They specifically focused on the elections and on possible ways how to advance the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
In the past days, Kubis held a series of virtual meetings on the ongoing preparations for the second Berlin Conference. He consulted with State Secretary of the MFA of Germany Miguel Berger and with German Special Envoy Christian Buck. On 8 June he joined the first meeting of Senior Officials with the participation of Libya, that started to prepare the outcome document of the Conference. In his telephone call with Minister Nikos Dendias of Greece, they discussed issues around the Berlin Conference.
In a phone call with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco Nasser Bourita they discussed complementary efforts to advance the implementation of the LPDF Roadmap, notably holding of the elections and advancing the file of sovereign positions.
In a phone call with the United Arab Emirates’ State Minister, Khalifa Shaheen Al-Marar, the Kubis discussed the importance of providing all the support to the Libyan interim authorities to create the proper environment for the holding of the national elections on 24 December, for delivering services to the people, for the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and for national reconciliation. They also discussed the preparation for the second Berlin Conference.
On 11 June, Kubis visited Malta where he was received by President George Vella and met for consultations with Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Evarist Bartolo, who kindly hosted a dinner on 10 June. They discussed the broadest range of issues, the latest development in and around Libya, the importance of coordinating all efforts with Libya and internationally to ensure stability and security in Libya. Issues of migrants and refugees were subject of a particular attention, also from the perspective of EU-UN-AU cooperation with Libya. Kubis thanked the high-level interlocutors for Malta’s continuous valuable support for Libya and the UN.
