The Middle East Institute has revealed the preparations for an upcoming meeting in Washington, DC, between NATO countries, between July 9 and 11, to discuss the repercussions of Russian presence in Africa, including Libya.
According to the institute, the meeting will also discuss the threats emanating from the Black Sea region and adopt a strategic approach toward the Middle East and Africa. It added that NATO countries have finally begun to pay attention to the continued Russian military and paramilitary presence in African countries, including Libya, especially after it established a new group called the “African Legion".
The report said that Russian intervention in Africa began over the past decade, in Libya, with the Russian government agreeing to print currency for Khalifa Haftar, in addition to military support for the Wagner Group in Haftar's war on Tripoli to recruit those mercenaries and pay their salaries from the printed money.
The rapprochement between Russia and Haftar's forces raises increasing Western concerns, and a report published by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in Washington has warned that the Russian Mediterranean base in Libya threatens Europe and the southern flank of NATO, in reference to the port of Tobruk.
The report has indicated that Russia provides military support to Haftar in eastern Libya, and helps him “exploit immigrant flows from Africa,” which poses a direct threat to the stability of Europe.
Russia revealed the creation of a new force under the name of the African Legion, which it began deploying in Burkina Faso and Niger, targeting five countries, including Libya, with more than 10,000 soldiers.
