Power without a throne: how Khalifa Haftar controls Libya and is answerable to no one

"Libya is a place where crises converge. Its 1,100-mile coastline, the Mediterranean's longest, has become the main departure point for migrants heading north. Since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011, the country has been torn apart by successive civil wars. Russia, Turkey, Egypt and the UAE arm rival factions, and the contest no longer stops at Libya's borders."

"Whoever controls Libya holds leverage over Europe. Yet Libya's political crisis is so byzantine that it confuses even experienced European officials. The country is split between two governments, one in the west and one in the east, and neither really governs. The UN and Europe recognise the Government of National Unity in Tripoli, which was formed in 2021 to oversee elections that never happened."

"Both administrations, in the east and west, claim national authority. Neither controls the oil, military bases or the migration routes that make Libya matter to Europe. One man does. His name is Khalifa Haftar. Haftar is 82. His title, general commander of the Libyan National Army, a coalition of militias assembled in 2014."

Libya has become central to Europe's migration crisis, with its 1,100-mile Mediterranean coastline serving as the primary departure point for migrants heading north. The country's political landscape is fractured between two unrecognized governments—one in Tripoli and one in Benghazi—neither of which effectively controls territory, oil resources, or migration routes. Regional powers including Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and the UAE support rival factions, while simultaneously funneling weapons and fighters into Sudan's civil war, driving additional refugees toward Libya's coast. European officials, including Italy's interior minister, Greece's migration chief, and the EU's migration commissioner, convened in July 2025 to address surging migrant arrivals and rescue failing agreements. The actual power in Libya rests with military strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose control over militias and territory gives him leverage over European migration policy.

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