Trump recognizes a rebel leader against the government recognized by the United Nations
Donald Trump’s decision to explicitly support Libyan marshal Khalifa Hafter – who intends to depose the Libyan National Unity Government backed by the United Nations – is a new test of the president’s worrisome understanding of international relations.
Since the beginning of the month, Hafter’s troops have been at the gates of Tripoli, where they have fought with troops loyal to the government. Although in the beginning the US Administration-through the mouth of its Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo-rejected the use of military force by the so-called Libyan National Army under Hafter’s orders, a telephone call from Trump to the latter he told Pompeo and turned the situation around.
According to the White House, in that conversation Trump recognized the value that Hafter has for Washington in terms of fighting terrorism and managing Libyan oil fields. Two issues without doubt important but that obviate a crucial issue for the security of Europe as is the fight against trafficking in persons. Illegal immigration has turned the North African country into a point of passage – in often inhumane conditions – of tens of thousands of people who want to reach Europe and in the paradise of the mafias that profit with impunity from this need.
Since he came to the White House – and actually before – Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that in his conception of international reality illegal immigration is an easy subject to solve with drastic and simple solutions, that the United Nations is an organization to which it is not necessary to take into account and that Europe is formed by a group of countries that take advantage of the budgetary effort of the USA in Defense. From his point of view, it is therefore consistent that the convulsion in human terms for Europe created by the Libyan instability since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011 did not deserve to be taken into account in its umpteenth unilateral movement in foreign affairs.
Libya should be an urgent priority for European foreign policy. A divided country with a bloody civil war and numerous characteristics of a failed state in the Mediterranean itself represents – in addition to the human drama – a real threat to the security of the EU. Unfortunately, there is no European consensus on the situation in the country. France has shown a friendly attitude towards Marshal Hafter while the rest of the partners remain aligned with the United Nations. This lack of general consensus does not help to stabilize a situation that requires dialogue and a clear strategy, both of which make Trump’s latest decision difficult.
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