EU Opens Libya Branch in Rebel-Held Benghazi

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton gives a joint press conference on March 21. The European Union said on Sunday that it is going to open an branch office in Libya, in the rebel-held stronghold, of Benghazi. (Georges Gobet/Getty Images)

The European Union said on Sunday that it is going to open an branch office in Libya, in the rebel-held stronghold, of Benghazi.

EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton said the rebel-backed Transitional National Council [TNC] has been acting in accord with the needs of the Libyan people, as opposed to the country’s leader Moammar Gadhafi, whose forces have been embroiled in a months-long conflict with the rebels.

“It will be an honor to meet the people who have been fighting for democracy and a better future for Libya,” Ashton, who was in Benghazi on Sunday, said in a statement. “I plan to meet key people from the Transitional National Council, civil society groups and our international partners. Opening an EU office is an important signal of our support for the Libyan people. It is the EU putting words into action.”

Her announcement comes a few days after NATO conducted airstrikes on key Libyan command and control centers in Tripoli. The coalition said they took out at least eight Libyan navy vessels that were attacking the port city of Misrata and disrupting boats bringing humanitarian supplies.

The EU office will be located initially at the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi and will be immediately operational.

Ashton met with the head of the TNC, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who said that with her visit, the EU is “supporting us to have a democratic and free state,” reported Al Jazeera television.

With the opening of the mission, the EU is “here to support them [the rebels] for the long term,” according to the television station.