Paris, Berlin and Rome have urged foreign powers to respect the UN Security Council arms embargo on Libya or face repercussions, in a joint statement issued by the EU leaders.
“We are ready to consider the possible use of sanctions should breaches to the embargo at sea, on land or in the air continue,” France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned.
Oil-rich Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a NATO bombing campaign ousted long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, and the country is now being run by two rivaling governments.
In recent months, Turkey has been actively supporting the Government of National Accord (GNA), which is fighting the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar for control over the country.
Relations between Turkey and France, its NATO ally, have been tense, after Paris last month accused the Turkish Navy of acting aggressively and of preventing a French ship enforcing the embargo from inspecting a freighter in the Mediterranean.