GENEVA, 22 April 2021 - Special Envoy of Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Ján Kubiš concluded today a visit to Bern, Switzerland where he met with Swiss officials to discuss ways to assist the Libyan people and authorities during the country’s transition to a democratic, stable, prosperous period that safeguards the unity and the sovereignty Libya.

Special Envoy Kubiš met in Bern with Mr. Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor accompanied by Ambassador Maya Tissafi, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Division, and Ambassador Simon Geissbühler, Head of the Peace and Human Rights Division, and discussed the latest developments in Libya and the region. They agreed on the need to step up support to the newly elected interim authority in Libya in order to enhance the provision of basic services to the Libyan people and urged all relevant Libyan authorities and institutions to prioritize the holding of national elections on 24 December 2021, including through the establishment of necessary constitutional basis and legal framework and increased engagement with the civil society. The Special Envoy and Federal Councillor Cassis called for the full implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement to maintain the stability of Libya and urged all concerned national and international actors to expedite the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya.  The Special Envoy also met with Ambassador Frank Gruetter, Head of UN Division at Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and reiterated the UN appreciation to the Government of Switzerland for its instrumental support to the UN-facilitated dialogue process through the hosting of a number of meetings for three tracks, political, military and economy.

As part of his efforts to lobby support to the peace process in Libya, the Special Envoy received, on 19 April, in Geneva Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, and separately had telephone conversations with the US State Department Counselor, Derek Chollet, and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal. On 17 April, Special Envoy had a phone call with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov.  Yesterday Special Envoy Ján Kubiš, along with Ambassador Christian Buck of Germany, co-chaired a meeting of the International Follow-up Committee on Libya that warmly welcomed H.E. PM Dbeiba and German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heiko Mass.  He also attended on Tuesday 20 April the sixth Summit meeting of the Libya Quartet, which was held at the invitation of the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States (LAS) between the LAS, the African Union, the United Nations, and the European Union.

In Geneva, Special Envoy Kubiš held discussions with High Commissioner of OHCHR, Michele Bachelet, Antonio Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration, Peter Maurer, President of ICRC, focused on the issue of migrants, refugees, detainees, displaces, and respect for human rights and international humanitarian law principles. He also discussed with David Harland, Executive Director of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, Ram Manikkalingam, Director of Dialogue Advisory Group, areas and modalities of possible cooperation.