The newspaper "Le Monde" punishes France's policy on Libya, in an editorial that accuses President Emmanuel Macron of ignoring the role of Europe and in particular the needs that Italy has in the North African country. The editorial, unsigned and therefore attributable to the management of the "Monde", welcomes the diplomatic "coup" struck by Macron, who organized a summit between the leaders of the two main Libyan factions in Paris last July : Prime Minister Faiez Sarraj who heads the Tripoli-based government of "national unity" and is recognized by the United Nations, and Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who controls the eastern region of Cyrenaica from the city of Benghazi with his troops . But beyond the laudable initiative, which according to "Le Monde" still has the merit of shaking the stagnant waters of the dramatic crisis that engulfed Libya after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, and the dubious effectiveness of what the summit has produced, especially as regards the planned holding of political elections in the country, it is its "form" that according to the Parisian daily is very lacking: and the "form", underlines "Le Monde", in diplomacy is substance. Macron first of all made a disgrace to a partner who is essential in Libya: Italy, the former colonial power which is at the forefront of the migratory flow and which is seriously involved in the African country, especially at the humanitarian level; and it has also ruled out Great Britain, a country that must necessarily be involved in Libya on a military level. But above all, playing solo as in the days of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy's diplomacy, the current French president has once again ignored the European Union. This is a mistake, says the editorial in "Le Monde": Macron should have directly involved the head of EU diplomacy, the Italian Federica Mogherini, if only to have European support for the practical application of the declarations of principle emerged from the Libyan summit in Paris. No less is expected of a French president who often and willingly declares his pro-European faith: is it too late to remedy the mistake?
Photo: the messenger