Fathi Basagha, former Interior Minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA), met with European Union (EU) and Belgian foreign policy officials in Brussels on 1 June. Among the people, Bashagha talked to was Nathalie Loiseau, the former Minister of European Affairs of France.
In the meeting, Bashagha pointed to the UK and France as responsible for the chaotic environment after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Stating that the UK, which played an active role in the anti-Gaddafi operations, especially under the leadership of David Cameron, took a lazy stance towards finding a political solution, Bashagha expressed that they considered it usual at that time due to the Brexit process, but that the UK has no excuse at the moment. In this regard, Bashagha stated that the UK cooperates with Libya only in the name of fighting terrorism and emphasized that these areas should be expanded.
The former Interior Minister also brought the same accusations against France and the US. When the Head of the Presidential Council Mohamed Al-Menfi visited France in March, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that they have debts to Libya and its people. Similarly, in the joint statement published after the Munich Conference, the participating European states stated that they did not expect the events that happened after the Libyan crisis and interpreted the lack of any plan after the NATO operations as a big mistake.
Fathi Bashagha was nominated for the Prime Minister’s seat at the interim election conducted by the UN-backed Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), held on February 1, but surprisingly, the list he was nominated for was not successful.
