The two-day summit on the future of Libya started with a private dinner. Among the attendees are the main political actors in the country as well as the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, the UN special envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salamé and Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
Saying that he is curious who will show up at the summit, Czech PM Babiš stressed that the stable situation in Libya is a key issue for the European Union.
But the chances of success for the Palermo summit are low because key world leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin did not agree to attend.
The talks are also overshadowed by a diplomatic wrangling between Italy and France, which plan to hold Libyan elections in December. While France has been courting military commander Khalifa Haftar, Italy is the main backer of Libya’s prime minister Fayez al-Serraj.
Still, Italy hopes the conference will help keep pressure on Libyan players to overcome their divisions.
