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 Libya |  European Union |
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Libya–European Union relations are the foreign relations between the country ofLibya and theEuropean Union.[1]
Prior to the2011 Libyan civil war, the EU and Libya were negotiating a cooperation agreement which has now been frozen.[2] The EU worked to apply sanctions over the Libyan conflict, provide aid and some members participated in military action.[3]
Libya has had a long and tumultuous relationship with mainland Europe.
In 630 BCE, theAncient Greeks colonized Eastern Libya and founded the city ofCyrene.[4] Within 200 years, four more important Greek cities were established in the area that became known asCyrenaica. The Greeks of the Pentapolis resisted encroachments by theAncient Egyptians from the East, as well as by the Carthaginians from the West, but in 525 BCE the Persian army ofCambyses II overran Cyrenaica, which for the next two centuries remained under Persian or Egyptian rule.Alexander was greeted by the Greeks when he entered Cyrenaica in 331 BCE, and Eastern Libya again fell under the control of the Greeks, this time as part of thePtolemaic Kingdom.The Carthaginian Empire rose to power to hold sway over the coast of much of modern-day Libya, but was later enveloped into theRoman Empire after thePunic Wars.
Libya was part of the Ottoman Empire, which fell apart following the events ofWWI. From 1912 to 1943, Libya was controlled byItaly. Italy lost the land during the North African Campaign of WWII. The United Kingdom and France administered the region until on 24 December 1951, Libya declared its independence as theUnited Kingdom of Libya.
Prior to the2011 Libyan civil war, the EU and Libya were negotiating a cooperation agreement which has now been frozen.[5] The EU worked to apply sanctions over the Libyan conflict, provide aid and some members participated in military action.[6] The ongoing Second Libyan Civil War and European Migrant Crisis are causing tensions on both sides of the Mediterranean.
In July 2025, the EU's Commissioner for Migration was denied entry to Libya.[7]
TheMalta Declaration (EU) is a declaration made on 3 February 2017 during theEuropean migrant crisis by leaders of theEuropean Union inMalta, which held thepresidency at the time, that focuses on measures to stem the flow ofimmigration fromLibya toItaly and the EU.[8][9]
The EU is closely working with Libya on the safety of migrants with such actions asOperation Sophia and the training of Libyan Coast Guards.[10]
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