The European Commission's self-declared policy of not doing any harm in Libya appears increasingly strained, following reports Frontex collaborated with the Tariq Bin Zeyad Brigade — a Libyan militia with ties to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. On Monday (11 December), the Brussels-executive skirted questions on how such collaboration adheres to its 'do no harm principle' when it comes to EU-funded operations in Libya. When pressed, a European Commission spokesperson demanded reporters field their questions to the Warsaw-based Frontex agency instead. Last year, Francisco Gaztelu Mezquiriz, a senior commission official, told European lawmakers that the European Commission had hired outside contractors to ensure its operations in Libya respects the do no harm policy. "So far, the contractor didn't report any violations of do no harm principle directly related to all costs by our trust fund programmes," he told European lawmakers.

Source: Libya Today December 11, 2023 14:44 UTC