Berlin, 19 January 2020: Germany supports the efforts of the UN to bring lasting peace and stability to Libya. After months of preparations, the Conference on Libya was held at the Federal Chancellery. Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General was there.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrives at the Federal Chancellery. The German government invited all states that hold sway over the parties to the conflict in Libya.
Chancellor Angela Merkel in discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron. Many heads of state and government, and representatives of international organisations including the European Commission and the African Union, accepted the invitation to the conference in Berlin.
During her visit to Moscow last week, Angela Merkel discussed Libya and the Berlin Conference on Libya in some depth with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The civil war in Libya is preventing the country returning to peace and stability. It is responsible for humanitarian situations that are disastrous in some places. Under these conditions there can be no properly functioning state and no prospects of development for the Libyan people.
Angela Merkel invited representatives of a total of twelve states to Berlin, to the Conference on Libya. In recent years the country has become one of the most important transit countries for refugees heading north.
It is the responsibility of the international community to make a strong, unified commitment to a ceasefire, an end to arms supplies from other countries to Libya, and a resumption of the political process in this country that has been devastated by civil war.
The German government is convinced that only a political solution can end the civil war. Continued military activities and the intervention of external actors are further worsening the situation.
After intensive discussions, conference participants agreed to respect an arms embargo and ensure stronger controls, and to renounce military support for the parties to the conflict in Libya.