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It was a horrific sight: in the past few months, Libyan authorities and international aid organizations have unearthed hundreds of bodies from mass graves in Tarhuna, southeast of Libya's capital Tripoli.
Local residents said the victims were tortured, set on fire or buried alive - including children.
The Kanijat militia, a marauding terrorist group that fought alongside General Khalifa Haftar, is apparently responsible for these war crimes.
The recovery of the partially charred corpses is just another sad chapter in the history of Libya, which has been marked by brutal conflicts and power struggles since the overthrow of long-time ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011.
Tens of thousands of people died, cities and villages were destroyed, millions of people lost their homes.
Before the outbreak of the Corona crisis, the chaos of the civil war led to a largely uncontrolled movement of people fleeing Libya towards Europe.
A movement that can repeat itself at any time after the corona pandemic has subsided.
Because the pressure of migration is great: the Mediterranean country is one of the most important transit states for millions of migrants from Africa.
For months, the EU foreign ministers have been deliberating regularly on Libya at their meetings.
So today too.
For the European Union (EU), Libya is a top priority for several reasons.
The most important is that the EU absolutely wants to prevent regional actors such as Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt from finally dividing an oil-rich country with sea access, which is right on Europe's doorstep.
That would harm Europe's security interests.
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In addition, the leaders of these authoritarian states could then continue to control the migration flows from Libya to Italy and Malta.
From the EU's point of view, the situation is already bad enough today: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in particular can not only open the floodgates for migrants from Turkey to Europe, but also direct illegal migration from Libya to the north.
Erdogan recently saved the United Nations (UN) and EU-recognized Libyan unity government under Prime Minister Fajis al-Sarradsch through his military intervention against the Haftar troops.
Instead, his influence in the country is now growing.
But from the Europeans perspective, there is also hope.
At the end of October, through the mediation of the United Nations, Sarradsch and Haftar committed themselves to a permanent ceasefire, which so far has largely held.
According to the agreement, around 20,000 foreign fighters will have to leave the country by the end of January next year.
However, it is doubtful whether this will work in such a short time.
Oil exports, which militias allied with Haftar had blocked for months, have been ramped up again since the deal.
Important highways are reopened, domestic flights are now possible again.
A piece of normality is back.
75 Libyans have been discussing a political solution for their country in Tunis since November.
Elections are planned for December 24, 2021.
From the EU's point of view, Libya is on the right path, but there are still long chunks of a political solution to be found.
In Brussels, it is expected that the negotiating partners in Tunis will still have violent disputes over control of the central bank, the security forces and the state oil company.
In addition, all sides continue to arm, heavy weapons are still coming into the country by land, air and sea.
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Nevertheless, preparations for securing long-term peace in Libya are in full swing.
Two weeks ago in New York, the United Nations began discussions on a possible UN-led “ceasefire mechanism”.
In the end, the Europeans should also participate.
At some point, German soldiers will probably also be stationed in Libya.
The EU is ready to transfer billions of euros in aid to Tripoli in the future and to support the Libyan government in rebuilding, if an amicable political solution is found beforehand.
The Europeans do not see themselves as benefactors.
You have tough self-interest: According to information from WELT, Brussels is also seeking a migration agreement with Libya based on the model of the EU refugee agreement with Turkey from March 2016.
This would close another hole for illegal migration to Europe.
“We think in this direction.
But it's not that far yet, ”said an EU diplomat.
Also from high circles of the EU Commission it is said: “The Turkey deal can at some point be a role model for Libya.” In plain language: The EU's goal is for Libya to adequately secure its own borders in return for billions in financial aid or even visa facilitation is ready to take back illegal refugees from the EU.
In return, the EU would also primarily take over sick, old or underage persons entitled to asylum directly from Libya who were previously selected by the United Nations and international refugee organizations as part of so-called resettlement programs.
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But if everything goes according to plan, it won't be until 2022 at the earliest.
Until then, the Europeans want to commit themselves to a ceasefire in Libya, especially with the EU naval mission "Irini".
EU soldiers have been monitoring the UN arms embargo in the eastern Mediterranean since May.
The calculation: the fewer weapons come into the country, the closer to peace.
However, "Irini" has weaknesses: There are too few aircraft and ships in use.
And while ships are occasionally checked in the Mediterranean, the Libyan borders are still open like barn doors for arms transports from the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Egypt in the air and by land.
Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told WELT: “If you want to help the UN arms embargo to break through, then the EU should not only control arms transports by sea, but also keep an eye on air and land routes.
Austria is in favor of promoting air surveillance within the framework of 'Irini' so that land-based or sea-based drones can also record possible arms transports across the Egyptian-Libyan border. ”The use of drones could also help to create a barrier to further arms transports.
Schallenberg was nevertheless largely satisfied with the “Irini” mission: “It unearths information about arms transports by sea that we would not otherwise have.” The presence of EU soldiers also means “that fewer weapons are smuggled by sea and the UN arms embargo is broken less bluntly than it would otherwise ”.
Weapons have not yet been confiscated, but kerosene.
"The problem is also that EU soldiers - including Austrians - are only allowed to inspect a ship under international law if those affected have given their consent," said Schallenberg.
EU soldiers could not gain entry under the threat of violence.
“This is exactly the problem we recently saw when inspecting a ship flying the Turkish flag.
We can only move within the framework of the mandate and international law. "