Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov: All EU activities in Libya must be based on international law
10 March 2011 News
“Muammar Gaddafi’s regime has no future”- according to Minister Nickolay Mladenov, this was the main message of yesterday’s EU Foreign Ministers meeting on the situation in Libya, convened by EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.
The Ministers discussed the draft document, which is expected to be adopted today, during the Extraordinary European Council. The shared view has been that all options for action must remain on the table. At this stage, all efforts will be directed mainly at the aggravating humanitarian situation in the region, and on the clarification and confirmation of information on the ground, which has been contradictory.
Nickolay Mladenov has called for support of the political dialogue between different sides in Libya as a way out of the crisis. Concerning the option to impose a no-fly zone, Minister Mladenov has noted that such actions should be based on international law and should have a clear mandate provided by the UN and countries in the region.
As regards action on the humanitarian situation, the contribution of Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva and Member States for the evacuation of their own and foreign citizens, including Bulgaria, have been highly appreciated.
The EU is anticipated to send a fact-finding mission to Libya in order to assess the humanitarian crisis on the ground.
Tightening of the sanctions against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime was officially endorsed by the Foreign Ministers yesterday, consequently including five key financial institutions and one individual.