THE AUTHORITIES IN eastern Libya told an EU commissioner and three ministers from member states to leave immediately today after they arrived in the main city Benghazi for planned talks.

Accusing the bloc’s delegation of a “flagrant breach of diplomatic norms”, the authorities who hold sway over eastern Libya said they had cancelled the visit and told the EU officials to “leave Libyan territory immediately”.

The EU commissioner for internal affairs and migration, Magnus Brunner, said on X that “the meetings planned in Benghazi could not take place in the end”.

“There was a breach of protocol which is unfortunate,” an EU official said, blaming it on “a big misunderstanding” over which Libyan authorities they were due to meet.

The delegation had flown in from the Libyan capital Tripoli, where it held talks with the UN-backed Government of National Unity of Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, which controls the west of the country.

Besides Brunner, the delegation also included the interior ministers of Italy and Malta, Matteo Piantedosi and Byron Camilleri, and Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris.

Straight after their arrival in Benghazi, the head of the eastern administration, Osama Hammad, declared all four men persona non grata.

He called on all diplomats and representatives of non-governmental organisations to “respect the sovereignty of the Libyan state”, without elaborating.

Libya has been gripped by conflict since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising.

The country remains split between Dbeibah’s government based in Tripoli and Hammad’s rival administration based in the east.

Libya is a common point of departure for people seeking to cross the central Mediterranean and reach Europe. Those asylum seekers come from many countries but mostly from east African states like Etritrea, Sudan and Somalia. 

As it does with other North African states like Tunisia, the EU has agreements with Libyan authorities that effectively outsource the policing of the bloc’s sea border.

Libyan Coastguard agencies prevent crossings and intercept boats – which they then bring back – in exchange for funding, equipment and training. 

The Libyan coastguard has been accused of frequent human rights violations and other crimes.

People stopped by the coastguard are usually returned to detention centres in Libya where detainees are often mistreated and in some cases tortured. 

So far this year, 550 people have been reported dead or missing along the central Mediterranean route, the deadliest migration route in the world. 

- © AFP 2025

With reporting from David Mac Redmond

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