22.04.2026 Statement for Briefing on UNSMIL (Libya)

Checked Against Delivery

Thank you, Mr. President,

I thank SRSG Tetteh for her sobering briefing and welcome the representative of Libya to our meeting today.

Denmark supports UNSMIL’s efforts to move the political process forward and achieve lasting peace and stability in Libya.

We welcome the structured dialogues on various tracks and commend the active participation of women, comprising 35% of participants, as an important step towards advancing full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation in political and decision-making processes.

However, we remain concerned that the House of Representatives and the High Council of State have not yet made meaningful progress towards completing the two initial milestones of the UNSMIL-facilitated roadmap. This heightens the risk of instability and undermines public trust in the political process.

Denmark urges all Libyan stakeholders to engage constructively and take urgent steps to advance the implementation of the roadmap and to overcome the obstacles preventing national elections and unification of institutions.

Free, fair, and inclusive elections are essential to securing Libya’s long-term stability, as they provide a legitimate, and nationally recognized basis for governance and help restore public trust in state institutions. By enabling Libyans to determine their political future through peaceful and democratic means, elections can reduce fragmentation, foster accountability, and lay the foundation for durable political unity and sustainable peace.

Mr. President,

Denmark commends the recent agreement on a unified state budget for the first time in more than a decade. The agreement is a significant step towards restoring financial stability after prolonged division. We call on all parties to commit to its implementation, while ensuring strict oversight of public expenditure across the country.

We urge Libyan authorities to ensure tangible results that benefit citizens from the unified spending framework. And we further underscore the importance of transparency and accountability in managing and disclosing oil revenues.

We welcome the strengthened measures to counter illicit oil exports as part of the recent sanctions renewal. Denmark recalls the responsibility of all Member States to ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of the sanctions regime. It is our hope that the recent updates to the sanctions framework will contribute to greater stability in Libya.

Strict enforcement of the arms embargo remains essential. In the absence of other enforcement and compliance mechanisms, Operation IRINI plays an important role. We look forward to the upcoming negotiations on IRINI’s mandate in May.

Mr. President,

Arbitrary arrests, detentions and enforced disappearances continue to undermine conditions for an inclusive political process as we have also heard from the SRSG.

Denmark recalls the importance of protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. Civil society actors must be able to operate without fear of reprisals or arbitrary detentions.

Restoring civic space and ensuring meaningful inclusion and political participation of women, youth, minorities and persons with disabilities are critical to the success of Libya’s political transition and its future resilience.

In closing,

We reiterate our support to UNSMIL and urge all stakeholders to make progress on the Libyan-led and Libyan-owned political process.

I thank you.