North African tour
January 10, 2012
A firm handshake and a friendly offer of help - on his three-day visit to North Africa, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was keen to demonstrate his commitment to investing in the future of Algeria, Libya and Tunisia, three countries which were rocked by the upheavals of the past year.
On the Libyan leg of his tour, the German foreign minister wanted to make his presence felt on what was his first visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli since the death of former dictator, Moammar Gadhafi.
"This is zero hour for Libya," Westerwelle said after a meeting with Libya's interim Prime Minister, Abdurrahim el-Keib. "We want to be on board," he added.
After Germany's controversial abstention on the vote on military intervention in Libya at the UN Security Council in early 2011, Westerwelle was consciously seeking to make contacts among the country's new leaders. It seems that fears about the reception that the German foreign minister might receive in Libya as a result of the decision last spring were entirely unfounded.
"We are talking about the future," said Libyan Foreign Minister Ashour bin Khayal after his meeting with Westwelle.
"For Libya, the incident isn't on the table," explained Marco Overhaus from the Berlin think tank, Stiftung Wissenschaft and Politik, which advises the government on foreign policy. "The future challenges in Libya are so overwhelming that they don't have the capacity to go over past discrepancies," he added.
Focus on trade
At the height of the fighting between Libyan rebels and pro-Gadhafi forces last year, Westerwelle opened a liaison office in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Now the German government is planning to unveil a new Goethe Institute in Libya to promote cultural exchange.
Germany also took over the medical care for around 1,000 injured insurgent fighters and has promised millions of euros to help in the reconstruction effort. Westerwelle was keen to stress the prospects for economic cooperation with Libya. "That will stabilize the political situation," he explained. The two sides agreed to work together closely in the fields of health, energy and infrastructure.
Westerwelle was heavily criticized for the UN Security Council abstention, even within his own coalition. "We should have voted for the resolution," said Ruprecht Polenz from Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats.
But the foreign minister continues to defend the decision. "We were pushing for international isolation, above all for political and economic sanctions, and this policy appears to have been successful," he declared recently. Time seems to be on his side - on his latest visit to the region, no one paid any heed to the controversial vote.
Author: Friederike Schulz / ji
Editor: Gabriel Borrud