NATO and EU’s Involvement in the Libyan Crisis (2011–2020)

Abstract

The research objective was to describe the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) in the Libyan crisis. The study was based on the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, reports of the NATO Secretary General, documents of the EU and FRONTEX, speeches of European politicians, statistics, and publications in the Western press and world news agencies. The article focuses on the reaction of the international community to the suppression of peaceful demonstrations in Libya and the reasons why the USA and the EU authorized the North Atlantic Alliance to lead a military operation. The authors summed up the outcomes of NATO's activities in Libya, analyzed the EU foreign policy instruments in Libya, and evaluated their efficiency. The disagreements between the EU states not only prevented the EU from pursuing an independent and coherent policy in Libya, but also complicated the implementation of the previously agreed measures. The leadership in resolving the Libyan crisis passed to the national states as a result of the weak position of the USA and the EU, as well as NATO’s withdrawal from Libya. The authors concluded that the Libyan crisis confirms the differentiation of roles between the NATO and the EU in the Middle East and North Africa region, in which the NATO resolves military conflicts, whereas the EU is responsible for peacekeeping activities.