The EU will not be able to enforce the UN arms embargo in Libya

Abstract

On 19 January 2020 a high-level conference was held in Berlin to find solutions to the conflict in Libya between the unity government under Fayez al-Sarraj and the troops led by General Khalifa Haftar. A central agreement in the final declaration aims to stop the unimpeded influx of weapons that external actors are making available to the warring parties. The conference participants committed themselves to "unequivocally and fully respect and implement the arms embargo established by United Nations Secu­rity Council Resolution 1970 (2011) and the Council's subsequent resolutions, including the proliferation of arms from Libya, and call on all international actors to do the same". The declaration thus reaffirms the existing resolutions, revealing its basic problem: So far, the United Nations (UN) has not been able to effectively enforce the current embargo for a variety of reasons. (author's abstract)