The great
Benghazi blunder: How a Libyan warlord humiliated Brussels
Europe’s
mission to tackle migration flows from North Africa became a fiasco in a row
over a photo opportunity.
EU
Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner alongside senior ministers from Italy,
Greece and Malta, discovered that the talks they had planned with Khalifa
Haftar had been gatecrashed. |
July 12,
2025 4:01 am CET
By Tim
Ross, Elena Giordano, Nektaria Stamouli and Hannah Roberts
BRUSSELS
— When a delegation of top European ministers and officials landed in the
summer heat of Libya to discuss migration with a Russia-backed warlord, they
found they had flown into a political ambush.
Waiting
on the plane at Benghazi, EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner alongside
senior ministers from Italy, Greece and Malta, discovered that the talks they
had planned with Khalifa Haftar had been gatecrashed. Without the Europeans’
agreement, two senior ministers from Haftar’s administration in the east of the
country had turned up to meet them too.
The
problem was that this eastern Libyan “government” is not regarded as legitimate
by the U.N. — and meeting Haftar’s ministers would have been tantamount to
giving them the EU’s seal of approval. That, many on the European side believe,
was Haftar’s goal all along.
What
followed was a diplomatic fiasco for the ages.
Apparently
enraged by the Europeans’ attitude, the 81 year-old Haftar threw them all out
of town without any talks on migration taking place. The EU’s attempt to
address people-smuggling gangs operating across the Mediterranean was in
disarray, as officials on all sides blamed each other for the mess.
Based on
interviews with multiple people familiar with Tuesday’s debacle, all of whom
were granted anonymity in order to speak candidly, POLITICO can reveal the full
story of the disagreement that derailed the EU’s mission to solve the crisis at
its southern border.
Behind it
all lurks a deeper warning for Europe, with the suspicion that Vladimir Putin’s
Russia is finding new ways to cause trouble in the region.
Team
Europe
Undocumented
migration is a critical challenge for the EU’s capacity to address voters’
concerns about border security, and tackling the route from North Africa to
Greece and Italy has long been among the most difficult tests for Brussels.
Brunner’s
trip was meant to display what EU officials like to call “Team Europe” in
action, tackling the migration crisis. Team Europe is Brussels-speak for a
combined diplomatic show of force in which the EU’s most powerful institutions
— such as the Commission and the European Investment Bank — work with member
countries “so that our joint external action becomes more than the sum of its
parts.”
Brunner
boarded a plane with Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris, Italian Interior
Minister Matteo Piantedosi and Byron Camilleri, the Maltese home affairs
minister. Their first destination in Libya was Tripoli, home of the
internationally recognized Government of National Unity.
Apparently
enraged by the Europeans’ attitude, the 81 year-old Haftar threw them all out
of town without any talks on migration taking place. |
While no
deal was struck on tackling migration, the conversation was cordial and the
meeting progressed smoothly and according to plan. Then they landed at
Benghazi’s Benina International Airport — and the trouble began.
The envoy
EU
ambassador Nicola Orlando cuts a dash on the diplomatic scene in Libya with his
shaven head, square-rimmed spectacles and neat, navy blue suits. He has a long
acquaintance with the country, having previously served as Italy’s deputy
ambassador in Tripoli, and it had been his job to set up the meetings.
Orlando
and his companions knew the risks of dealing with Haftar: The warlord controls
the Libyan National Army and has been de facto ruler of eastern Libya since
2017, running the region as a military dictatorship, with some support from
Russia. The EU has never had an institutional relationship with his
administration.
When the
Europeans’ plane taxied to its stand at Benghazi, to be unexpectedly welcomed
by two of Haftar’s ministers, Orlando was in the firing line.
The
Italian, Greek and Maltese ministers told him to get off the plane on his own,
and go and talk to Haftar’s side. On no account must the European delegation of
ministers and officials be photographed with Haftar’s representatives, they all
agreed. That would send an international signal that the EU was recognizing an
administration most of the world does not regard as legitimate.
Orlando
trudged off on his own to speak to the two eastern Libyan ministers in person
and Haftar’s office by phone. Eventually, they assured him that the Europeans,
who had remained stuck on board their plane, could disembark and wait, out of
the sun, in the airport’s more comfortable VIP lounge, promising that nobody
would be photographed in the process.
Breaking
promises
The
Libyans immediately broke that assurance, too, and began taking pictures of the
Europeans and the Libyan ministers as they waited to discover if the talks
could begin.
As
Orlando continued trying to rescue the situation, it became clear that Haftar
was not happy. He wanted that photo of his ministers meeting some of the most
senior politicians from the EU, including Brunner, the commissioner.
In the
end, the EU side proposed a compromise. Despite their reservations about the
eastern Libyan regime, they would go ahead and hold a meeting with Haftar’s
ministers present — but only on the condition that no photograph would be
released showing it had taken place.
Haftar
apparently then became angry, declared Brunner “persona non grata” and ordered
all the Europeans to get back on their plane and leave.
A
Commission spokesperson said Ursula von der Leyen and the other leaders agreed
“to continue to engage with Libya and to pursue the Team Europe approach
including by resending the Team Europe delegation to Libya to continue the
visit. |
The
debacle triggered immediate recriminations. How could the EU side put
themselves in a position where Haftar could ambush them with a camera lens in
pursuit of international recognition? If they knew there were risks, why didn’t
they prepare better?
Blame
game
Brussels
got the blame, with officials from Rome and Athens privately suggesting the EU
team had let the rest of them down. Within the EU’s own institutions, some
Commission insiders were also quietly critical of how it had been handled, with
the finger of suspicion pointing at the bloc’s diplomatic arm, the European
External Action Service.
According
to some involved, the risks of Haftar setting a trap were known but they
decided to try their luck and hope to be able to work it out in person on the
ground if anything went wrong.
“Brussels
and the rest of the Europeans are fully aware that the commissioner and
ministers walked into a trap in a desperate attempt to appease Haftar over his
migration blackmail,” said one person familiar with the discussion in Brussels.
“Now the Commission and Italy, which came up with the mission at the worst
possible time, are under attack, with others opposed to further concessions and
capitulations to Haftar, a staunch ally of Russia.”
On
Friday, the Commission confirmed that Team Europe would try again. Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen agreed with the leaders of Italy, Greece and
Malta to keep pressing when they met on the sidelines of a Ukraine support
summit in Rome on Thursday.
A
Commission spokesperson said von der Leyen and the other leaders agreed “to
continue to engage with Libya and to pursue the Team Europe approach including
by resending the Team Europe delegation to Libya to continue the visit.” The
idea, the spokesperson suggested, would be to engage with “both sides” in
Libya, the implication being that this would include the Haftar-ruled east.
It’s not
clear exactly when the new mission to Libya will take place or who will be on
board the plane next time.
One major
risk is that Putin’s Russia now sees eastern Libya and its migration routes
across the Mediterranean as an irresistible opportunity to destabilize the EU.
Haftar has held multiple meetings with Russian ministers and his army has
received support from the Russian military.
“No one
really knows what to do,” said the same person familiar with the discussions
quoted above. “But it’s clear that appeasement isn’t working and that Haftar
will keep asking for more, thus advancing Russian interests in Libya in
exchange for a handful fewer migrants landing in Crete.”
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