Eastern Libya authorities order EU ministers to abandon visit

On 16 May 2025, demonstrators call for the resignation of the Libyan National Unity Government in Tripoli. [AFP]

The authorities in eastern Libya told an EU commissioner and ministers from three member states to leave immediately on Tuesday after they arrived in main city Benghazi for planned talks.

Accusing the bloc's delegation of a "flagrant breach of diplomatic norms", the authorities said they had cancelled its visit and told it to "leave Libyan territory immediately".

The EU executive arm, the European Commission, did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

The delegation had flown in from the Libyan capital Tripoli, where it held talks with the UN-backed Government of National Unity of Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah.

Led by the EU commissioner for internal affairs and migration, Magnus Brunner, the delegation also included the interior ministers of Italy and Malta, Matteo Piantedosi and Byron Camilleri, and Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris.

Straight after their arrival in Benghazi, the head of the eastern administration, Osama Hammad, declared all four men persona non grata.

He called on all diplomats and representatives of non-governmental organisations to "respect the sovereignty of the Libyan state", without elaborating.

Libya has been gripped by conflict since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising.

The country remains split between Dbeibah's government based in Tripoli and Hammad's rival administration based in the east.