The Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria, Nickolay Mladenov and Croatia, Gordan Jandrokovic, have issued the following joint statement:

“More than five months ago the Libyan people began a revolution demanding freedom, democracy and the end of the dictatorship. Today, that struggle is almost over.

Muammar Qaddafi no longer has the capacity to oppress or threaten the people in Libya. Whether he understands it or not, Qaddafi’s era is over for good. The crimes of his regime should be investigated and all responsible must be prosecuted. He and his henchmen will be held to account before the International Criminal Court.

The time to end the fighting has come and all his loyalists must lay down their weapons immediately. It is time to begin the process of building a democratic Libya, based on the rule of law.

The transitional political process in Libya can only be directed by the broadly based National Transitional Council (NTC), which has led the struggle for freedom to this day. In June we recognised it as a legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

This great historic moment for the Libyan people should not be tainted by vengeance and violence but should be used for reconcilliation, building national unity and peaceful transition.

Bulgaria and Croatia have supported the NTC and its vision of a democratic and inclusive Libya, that upholds the highest international human rights standards.

Therefore, as of August 25th both Bulgaria and Croatia recognise the National Transitional Council as the legitimate authority of Libya and will support it in its efforts to assert peace throughout the country, establish law and order, and build a democratic state, including through free elections.

We look forward to re-establishing our diplomatic presence in Tripoli in the immediate future and working with the rest of the international community in assisting the Libyan people in their transition to democracy.”