Mounir Satouri is a Member of the European Parliament and the Green chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights. It is now over a month since the EU-backed Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) opened fire without warning on the rescue ship Ocean Viking in international waters, risking the lives of 34 humanitarian workers and 87 shipwreck survivors. This attack was conducted from a boat transferred to the LCG from Italy under an EU-funded program. But the bloc’s regulations are clear: The European Commission cannot fund parties involved in human rights abuses. And the European Ombudsman has already accused the Commission of maladministration over its refusal to release the impact assessments of its Libya program. Yet, despite all this — and an attempted homicide complaint lodged in the Italian courts — EU cooperation with and funding for the LCG continues unabated. The level of malpractice is going unnoticed because these events are solely being viewed through the lens of Europe’s ongoing migration crisis. Indeed, it is a moral stain on Europe that its border control strategy involves funding militias that kidnap people on the high seas and return them to places where, according to bodies like the U.N., they are tortured, raped, enslaved and sometimes killed. But it would be a mistake to view this solely as a migration issue. The central Mediterranean is among the busiest shipping lanes and is crucial to the world’s economies. And Europe cannot be taken seriously as a legitimate security actor while it funds anarchic militias operating in destructive ways close to its shores. It’s not just refugees and NGOs, Italian fishing boats have been attacked by LCG crews too. The contagion of impunity in the Mediterranean was also visible in the repeated drone attacks on flotilla vessels in international waters that were bound for Gaza. Mercifully, Spanish and Italian naval intervention provided some disincentive for such attacks. But it should never have been allowed to reach that point. Of course, Italy’s shift in posture was too late for the Ocean Viking crew, who requested NATO assistance after the shooting but received no support. But in the future, could European countries find themselves in the absurd position of providing military escorts or medical evacuations for their citizens under attack from forces that were funded by their own taxes? Faced with a civil society backlash from 42 humanitarian and legal organizations after the Ocean Viking attack, the Commission defended its continued funding of the LCG, saying it needed to “remain engaged to improve things” — an argument that would have held more water were it not for 10 years of unchanged behavior by the LCG and extensively documented violence. In a grim irony, another Italy-provided LCG boat shot at another rescue ship just two days after the Commission’s statement. The way to constrain an out-of-control actor isn’t to reward and enable their behavior. And from a policy standpoint, Europe’s approach is incoherent on several levels: It’s been widely documented (including as recently as last month) that Libyan government-associated militias play a double-game to profit off the crisis in the Mediterranean, and are involved in both border enforcement as well as smuggling and trafficking. The floating crime scene of the Ocean Viking now sits in an Italian harbor, signaling the further breakdown of rule of law in the Mediterranean. | Francesca Ruta/EPA In the context of states cutting development aid, what remains must be spent wisely, helping deliver stability — not the opposite. And yet, Europe-backed militias have used their maritime assets in internal Libyan conflicts, and experts now fear that EU support has enabled conflicting parties to disregard the peace process and strengthen militia control over Libyan public institutions. Such cynical foreign policy sparks backlash. The region is watching the EU’s transactional approach in Libya and beyond, with the head of Libya’s Presidential Council implicitly criticizing the bloc’s approach at the U.N. this month. Plus, after two years of inaction and incoherence on what a U.N. commission has now termed a genocide in Gaza, European diplomacy can ill-afford further accusations of hypocrisy and neocolonialism from the global south. Policy shaped by short-term migration headlines ultimately risks handing influence and power to Europe’s geopolitical rivals. Moreover, the Commission’s attempt to appease Europe’s right over migration hasn’t worked — instead, it has sacrificed rules, transparency, morality and security. And perforated by bullet holes, the floating crime scene of the Ocean Viking now sits in an Italian harbor, signaling the further breakdown of rule of law in the Mediterranean. However, this could also be the cold water shock the Commission needs to abandon a decade of failed strategy. As it draws up a new Pact for the Mediterranean, the Commission could make sure to include a commitment to stop financing Libyan security forces, and urge Italy and others to do the same. It could also include commitments to humanitarian action, to help EU member countries coordinate competent search and rescue operations, to open routes for people fleeing Libya to seek safety and justice, and to ensure European financing supports rather than endangers — whether at home, in Libya or at sea.

A coalition of human rights NGOs is urging the European Commission to halt cooperation with Libya after it attacked a migrant rescue ship, accusing Brussels of funding forces that “enabled and legitimised abuses.” In a letter obtained by POLITICO and due to be sent to Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner and Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Šuica on Wednesday — and copied to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola — the organizations condemn the Aug. 24 assault on the rescue vessel Ocean Viking by the Libyan Coast Guard. The Ocean Viking, operated by the French NGO SOS Méditerranée, was fired on by a Libyan patrol boat financed by EU funds via Italy’s SIBMMIL program. More than 30 crew members and 87 rescued migrants were on board when hundreds of shots were fired without warning in international waters, according to the NGO. “While the European Commission stated that Libyan authorities are investigating the incident, weeks after the attack, there is no indication that cooperation, or technical and financial assistance, has been suspended during the course of this investigation,” the letter says. The signatories — including Amnesty International, ActionAid, SOS Méditerranée, Emergency, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranea Saving Humans, and Refugees in Libya — argue the assault exposes nearly a decade of failed EU policy.  “Eight years of EU support has not improved these actors’ human rights records, but enabled and legitimised abuses,” they warned, adding that “human lives must not be disregarded in the name of border control.” The NGOs accuse the Commission of turning a blind eye “despite overwhelming evidence” of human rights violations by Libyan authorities; and of mismanaging its own programs by refusing to show the public the safety checks it conducts to ensure EU-funded projects do not harm people. They demand that Brussels restores “the rule of law at its maritime border; suspend cooperation with Libya without further delay; urge Italy to terminate its 2017 Memorandum of Understanding with Libya; and urge other Member States to refrain from similar agreements.” The appeal lands as Libya’s internal turmoil complicates European diplomacy. The country remains split between rival governments in Tripoli and Benghazi, backed by rival powers such as Russia and Turkey. Moscow has expanded its presence with arms deliveries and plans for a naval base in Tobruk, while Ankara has struck maritime deals that Greece deems illegal. On July 8, an EU mission led by Brunner to Benghazi was abruptly expelled, roiling relations with the eastern Benghazi government. Brunner said Brussels had to keep talking with Benghazi strongman Khalifa Haftar as a necessary step to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from further weaponizing migration. French MEP Mounir Satouri, from the left-wing Greens/European Free Alliance, who also chairs the Committee on Human Rights (DROI) in the European Parliament, described the EU’s cooperation with Libya as a “slap in the face to those of us who takes European values seriously.” “Europe cannot continue to fuel human rights violations based solely on its obsession with migration,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

The European Union’s efforts to secure its external borders have been questioned after a Libyan naval vessel opened fire on a French ship that was rescuing migrants. Although no one was killed or injured, the incident has led to a major political row in Italy, which gave the Libyans the boat as part of an EU program. On Aug. 24, the Ocean Viking, a ship belonging to the French NGO SOS Méditerranée, came under fire in international waters about 40 nautical miles off the coast of Libya. The Ocean Viking had just rescued 87 people from a rubber dinghy when a Libyan coast guard patrol boat approached and opened fire at close range. “Without any warning or ultimatum, two men aboard the patrol vessel opened fire on our humanitarian ship, unleashing at least 20 relentless minutes of assault gunfire directly at us,” the NGO said in a statement, denouncing what it called a “violent and deliberate attack.” The vessel sustained serious damage: shattered windows, broken antennnae, bullet holes in the bridge and destroyed rescue equipment. Prosecutors in Siracusa, Sicily have opened a criminal investigation into the attack. Last week, police boarded the Ocean Viking in the town of Augusta in Sicily, where the 87 rescued migrants disembarked, to inspect the damage and gather testimony. According to SOS Méditerranée, the boat that attacked them was a Corrubia-class patrol vessel built in Italy and given to Libya in 2023 under the EU Border Assistance Mission in Libya program, part of Europe’s strategy of outsourcing border control. During the attack, the Ocean Viking crew issued a mayday call and alerted NATO, which referred them to the Italian navy. “However, the Italian Navy never answered the phone,” the NGO said in its statement. Valeria Taurino, the director of SOS Méditerranée Italy, called for “a thorough investigation” into the incident and an end to European cooperation with Libya. “An entity that makes illegal claims in international waters, obstructs rescues, and attacks unarmed humanitarian operators cannot be considered a competent authority,” she said. After the 87 rescued people left the ship, the Ocean Viking and its crew were held in isolation for several days on health grounds, as one of those rescued tested positive for tuberculosis. On Friday the NGO announced the Italian authorities had finally lifted the quarantine, allowing the crew to disembark. The Italian government — led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — has been clamping down on NGOs as part of its drive to reduce migration. On Monday another rescue ship — the Mediterranea — was placed under administrative detention after it let 10 migrants disembark in Trapani — the nearest safe port — instead of following Interior Ministry orders to sail to Genoa, some 770 kilometers away. The move reflects stricter rules introduced in 2023 by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, which require that NGO ships notify authorities after a rescue and then sail immediately to a designated port, often hundreds of kilometers away. Critics say the measure cripples rescue operations by forcing vessels to make long detours. The Italian government — led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — has been clamping down on NGOs as part of its drive to reduce migration. | Fabio Frustaci/EPA “It’s like forcing a burn victim to remain in the flames,” said Laura Marmorale, president of Mediterranea Saving Humans, denouncing the policy as “inhumane” and “unacceptable.” The incidents have led to sharp criticism of the Italian government. Opposition leader Elly Schlein of the Democratic Party urged the government to end its migration deal with Libya, while Green Europe lawmaker Angelo Bonelli condemned the use of Italian-built boats to launch attacks on NGOs. He denounced Meloni’s silence as a “political and moral surrender that humiliates our country before Europe and the world.” However, Piantedosi pointed the finger at NGOs rather than at the Libyan shooters. “It is the State that fights human traffickers and manages and coordinates rescues at sea. Not the NGOs,” he wrote on social media. EU institutions reacted more cautiously. During a press briefing on Tuesday, a Commission spokesperson described the Ocean Viking episode as “worrying,” saying Brussels had contacted Libyan authorities to “clarify the facts.” The EU’s border agency Frontex called the incident “deeply concerning” and called for a swift investigation, stressing: “No rescuer should ever be put in danger while carrying out life-saving work.” Speaking at a conference in Rimini last week, Meloni said her policies had “drastically” reduced arrivals and cut “the number of deaths and missing persons at sea.” She framed her migration crackdown as a humanitarian success: “Nothing is more important than saving a human life, than tearing it away from the claws of human traffickers.” Yet critics argue that Italy’s approach comes at the cost of partnering with abusive countries. Valeria Taurino, the director of SOS Méditerranée Italy, called for “a thorough investigation” into the incident and an end to European cooperation with Libya.| Donato Fasano/EPA In January, the government faced backlash for releasing Osama Al-Masri Njeem, a Libyan general wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes. A 2021 video shared by the NGO Refugees in Libya shows Al-Masri allegedly executing a man in Tripoli. EU’S MIGRATION GAMBLE The attack on the NGO vessel has highlighted Europe’s uneasy partnership with Libya. Since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has fractured and become a major transit hub for migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Despite widespread reports of torture, sexual violence and forced labor in Libya’s detention system, the EU and Italy have continued to support the Libyan coast guard. Rome signed the Italy–Libya Memorandum in 2017, funding and equipping Libyan patrols. The deal, criticized by rights groups, was renewed in 2019 and again in 2023. Since taking office in 2022, Meloni has tightened those ties further, securing an $8 billion gas deal in 2023. At the same time, the EU has spent more than €91 million on border and migration management in Libya since 2014 as part of a €338 million migration package, while Italy has spent nearly €300 million on containment measures since 2017. But oversight of these funds remains weak. In a report released in September 2024, the European Court of Auditors warned that more than €5 billion from the EU Trust Fund for Africa had been disbursed with insufficient controls. Europe’s reliance on Libya is complicated further by rivalries with other powers. Russia has expanded its presence through arms supplies and a planned naval base in Tobruk, while Turkey is accused of cutting maritime deals with Libyan authorities that Greece deems illegal under international law. In July, EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner defended the need for Brussels to activate talks with Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar as a necessary step to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from further weaponizing migration. “There is certainly a danger that Russia … [will] use migrants and the migration issue as a weapon against Europe,” he told POLITICO. “This weaponization is taking place, and of course we also fear that Russia intends to do the same with Libya.” In July, Brunner was ejected from Benghazi as “persona non grata” over an apparent breakdown in diplomatic protocol. He had been leading a delegation of senior EU representatives — including ministers from Italy, Malta and Greece — in an attempt to discuss efforts to tackle the flow of migrants into Europe from the country.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron moved to revoke visa exemptions for Algerian officials and diplomats on Wednesday, marking one of the most significant escalations in a diplomatic feud that has put the two countries at loggerheads for over a year. Macron asked his prime minister and foreign minister to revoke a 2013 agreement that allows Algerians with a diplomatic or service passport visa-free access to France for up to 90 days. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot had previously announced plans to expel Algerian diplomats without valid visas in response to Algiers expelling French civil servants from its territory. France and Algeria have had a complex relationship since the North African country gained independence after more than a century of brutal French occupation. Tensions reached a fever pitch last year when Paris recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, aligning with Spain, the United States and others. Western Sahara is mostly controlled by Morocco, but Rabat’s sovereignty over the territory is not internationally recognized. Algiers unconditionally supports and hosts the headquarters of the pro-Sahrawi independence movement, the Polisario Front. France also claims that two of its citizens, French-Algerian author Boualem Sansal and reporter Christophe Gleizes, are being held in Algerian prisons without cause. Sansal was sentenced to five years in prison for undermining national unity after expressing support for Morocco in a territorial dispute with Algeria and claiming that only “small places with no history” end up being colonized in an interview with a far-right French online outlet. Gleizes was sentenced to seven years for “advocating terrorism” after interviewing the heads of a football club who also held roles in separatist movements within Algeria. Macron had sought to maintain diplomatic ties with Algeria and was eager to de-escalate. He now appears to have lost patience. “We have no choice but to adopt a firmer approach,” Macron told right-wing daily Le Figaro. Relations with Algeria are also a hot topic for the French president domestically. Algerians make up France’s largest immigrant community, and millions of French citizens are of Algerian descent. Meanwhile, far-right and right-wing figures — including current Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau — have made cracking down on Algeria and Algerian immigration central to their political platforms.