Mr President, I want to say something about the chaos and the humanitarian disaster in Libya, which we helped develop through the lack of convergent and coordinated European action after the fall of Gaddafi and through the stupid failure to assist the transitional authorities on security sector reform (SSR) and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), thus enabling the militias to turn into the terrorist and criminal gangs of today. Do not fool yourself, Commissioner. The seventh version of the UN-brokered national accord is not likely to be signed any time soon, according to what we hear in Tripoli and Tobruk today.

A major military operation following the disastrous model of Yemen seems to be under preparation by General Haftar, the aspiring new Gaddafi, counting on Salafist fighters. Tragic consequences will befall the Libyan people, foreign migrants, foreigners trying to flee and, inevitably, Europe.

The European failure to act is the result of lack of union and indeed rivalry among our Member States over oil and other interests. That is leaving some European capitals more exposed to Libya, and they are now contemplating military intervention, which will require thousands of boots on the ground, not to mention a legal justification.

Another mistake made by the EU, the US and the UN is to pretend that all this is internal factionalism and not to denounce and deter the powers that are fighting a proxy war in Libya, namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, backing the government in Tobruk, and Turkey and Qatar backing the Muslim Brotherhood in the Tripoli-Misrata axis. By not stopping this proxy war, we are enabling an expansion of the terrorist Daesh and the Salafists in Libya. This is not just against the people - this is against the people of Europe.