EU migration plan in tatters as officials thrown out of 1 country before deportation talks

Four European Union officials have been expelled from Benghazi, Libya, as efforts to halt the flow of migrants stall. Libya is currently a vital stepping off point for migrants being taken to southern Europe by criminal gangs, with the treacherous route being used to funnel thousands into Greece and Italy.

After landing in the country, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, and migration ministers from Greece, Italy and Malta were declared "personae non gratae" and forced to leave. The delegation included Italy's Migration Minister Matteo Piantedosi, his Greek counterpart Thanos Plevris and Malta's Byron Camilleri. All were expelled under claims that they were undermining Eastern Libya's sovereign government.

The country is currently split between two parties, with Benghazi sitting within Eastern Libya controlled by military commander Khalifa Haftar and the capital Tripoli Government of National Unity.

The "diplomatic incident" arose because the EU doesn't recognise the eastern government in Libya, according to Politico.

Haftar alleged that the officials had violated diplomatic protocols but sources later claimed that he had sought a last-minute meeting between his ministers and the delegation.

Benghazi is currently controlled by Hafter who is understood to be aligned to Moscow and thus instinctively hostile to aiding measures that could ease the burden of migration on the EU.

Plevris said from the country: "We want to deliver a clear message that we will help Libya keep illegal migrants, prevent departures to the EU and simultaneously return illegal migrants back to their homeland.

"We will cooperate in this direction. Crete receives tremendous pressure from the eastern coast and we want to prevent this."

A government official from an EU country told Politico: "The delegations were in the VIP area of the airport and were about to have a meeting, but Haftar wanted several of the ministers (and definitely the PM and the FM of the Eastern Libyan govt) to join the meeting.

"That was not possible for the EU Commissioner and the EU govts to accept. Brunner had agreed only for a meeting with Haftar. It seems that Haftar's reaction was staged."

Byron Camilleri, Malta's minister for home affairs, said: "Unfortunately the meeting scheduled in Benghazi was cancelled following a protocol issue between the local authorities and the EU Embassy in Libya."

All three ministers are understood to have returned to their home countries following the incident.