Visit of the Civilian Operations Commander Stefano Tomat to EUBAM Libya

Mr Tomat is the Commander of all EU civilian crisis management missions and Director of Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC), the operational headquarters of the missions in Brussels. The Commander and his delegation of representatives from CPCC and the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments first visited the sub-office of EUBAM Libya in Tunis. On the next morning, the Commander and his delegation were warmly welcomed to Libya at Mitiga airport by the Head of Mission Ms Natalina Cea and the representatives of the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Directly after the arrival, the Commander, together with the EU Ambassador Nicola Orlando and EUBAM Head of Mission Natalina Cea, had the opportunity to meet with His Excellency Minister of Interior Emad Trabelsi. The high-level meeting and the fruitful discussion on the needs of the authorities under the Ministry of Interior dealing with border management and security and the possible support from the Mission to match these needs was an excellent start for the Commander’s visit.

On the evening of the first day of the visit, the Commander handed medals and certificates for Mission Members in the Medal Parade, which is a regularly organised ceremony in all EU Missions to award staff for their service and to acknowledge their dedication to the work of the Mission.

Continuing his visit on the second day, the Commander, the Head of Mission and representatives of the Mission and CPCC had several productive meetings with various key Libyan partners of EUBAM Libya. First meeting was with the Head of European Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Abdulrahman Khamada and his staff. This department has a very important role in coordination of the cooperation between the Mission and Libyan partners.

 The Commander also had the honour to meet with the Chief of General Staff of the Libyan Army, Lieutenant General Mohamed Al-Haddad, in the presence of Director of the Libyan Counter-Terrorism Centre Major General Mohamed Bashir Saleh.

 In the afternoon, the Commander and the delegation were visited the Specialised Training Centre of the Libyan Border Guards under the Ministry of Defence. The Mission supported the rehabilitation of the training centre, administrative offices and operational room in the same premises earlier this year. The visit included also in-depth discussions with the Director of the Specialised Training Centre Brigadier General Fawzi Alfagy and the Head of the International Cooperation Office of the Libyan Border Guard Brigadier Nassar Lagili on the possibilities of future cooperation in capacity building, especially in trainings.  

Finally, the Commander had a very interesting meeting with two key partners from different administrations: the Border Guard under the Ministry of Interior and the Libyan Customs. The Head of the Border Guard Agency, Colonel Mohamed Shibani Al-Marhani, and the Director of  Combatting Drugs and Smuggling of the Customs, Major General Murad Alalem, presented the views of their agencies and actively engaged in the discussion on possible cooperation initiatives with the Civilian Operations Commander.

 On the third and final day of the visit in Libya, Commander Stefano Tomat, together with EUBAM Head of Mission and representatives of CPCC, the Mission and EU Delegation, conducted a field visit to the Libyan-Tunisian border. The Commander highly appreciated this opportunity, arranged and coordinated by Libyan authorities under different Ministries, to visit one of the key areas where the Mission sees possibilities for future support. The visit included a meeting with the Head of the Ras Ajdir border-crossing point Brigadier General Khairi Al-Arabi, the Head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Interior Major General Mahmoud Ashour Al-Ajely and several other high representatives of agencies present at the border-crossing point. The Commander and the delegation also got to visit the towers of both the Libyan Border Guard under the Ministry of Defence and Border Guard of the Ministry of Interior.

 After the field trip, the Mission had invited the EU Ambassadors to Libya to meet with the Commander in EUBAM office. The Commander got to describe his initial impressions after all of important meetings and forward-looking discussions with the Libyan partners. Commander Stefano Tomat highlighted the importance of moving quickly ahead with the implementation of the activities, as the Mission and Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs have agreed in the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding. Head of Mission Natalina Cea confirmed that EUBAM Libya stands ready to initiate new activities in the field of border management and fighting cross-border crime and terrorism, and to offer its full support and expertise for the benefits of the Libyan partners met during the Commander’s visit.

 EUBAM Libya thanks the Civilian Operations Commander Stefano Tomat and his accompanying delegation for this important visit, as well as the Libyan authorities for their hospitality, active participation and kind support in organising the visit.

See more about the content of the visit on this video: [link]