PARIS, 12 March 2021 - UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Libya, Head of UNSMIL Mr. Ján Kubiš held in Paris a series of meetings with high-level French officials, as part of his efforts to rally the international community’s support for Libyans in their pursuit of peace, stability, unity and prosperity. He expressed his deep appreciation of the continuous support of President Emmanuel Macron and the French government for the UN efforts in Libya particularly for the three-track intra Libyan dialogue, emanated from the Berlin Conference on Libya.

Mr. Kubiš had a conversation with  Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and with Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Advisor to the French President at the l’Elysée, as well as with Political Director of MFA, Philippe Errera, who was accompanied by Director of North Africa and the Middle East, Christophe Farnaud, and the Director of the United Nations and International Organisations, Fabien Penone, followed by an interdepartmental meeting co-chaired by Special Envoy, Frederic Desagneaux. They applauded the historic unity meeting of the House of Representatives that granted the vote of confidence to the government of Prime-Minister Abdelhamid AlDabaiba and that opened the door to the transition to the new interim executive authority - the Presidency Council (PC) led by PC President Mohammed al-Mnefi and the government led by PM AlDabaiba.  The parties appreciated the statement by PM Serraj welcoming the vote of confidence by the HoR and expressing readiness to hand over power and reiterated the call upon all current Libya authorities and actors to show the same sense of responsibility and ensure a smooth, swift, and constructive handover of all competencies and authorities to the interim executive authority.

They reconfirmed the importance of advancing the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement signed on 23 October 2020, and on of supporting the new interim unified executive authority, the PC and the government in their mission to unify Libya and its institutions, address the living conditions of the Libyan people, achieve reconciliation and transitional justice, and prepare the country for holding national elections on 24 December 2021, as stipulated in the Libya Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) Roadmap.

Ways to promote the respect for the UN arms embargo and relevant Security Council resolutions and to assist the Libyans in expediting the departure of mercenaries were also the focus of the Special Envoy’s meetings with other French officials, Bernard Emié of the French General Directorate for External Security, and Martin Briens Chief of Staff to the Minister of Armed Forces of France.

Prior to his departure for Paris, the Special Envoy held a meeting in Geneva with Foreign Minister of Greece, Nikos Dendias, accompanied by Greece’s Special Envoy for Libya and other high-level officials of the MFA. They highly commended the unity session of the HOR and the vote of confidence to the Government of PM AlDabaiba. Greece reconfirmed its firm support for the positive developments that are taking place in Libya and the UN efforts for peace, unity, and stability for the benefit of the Libyan people.

The Special Envoy also briefed Ambassadors and Representatives of countries accredited to Libya on the recent developments in the country and the activities of UNSMIL.