Closer to Libya

Details of just how -- and how fast -- the so-far stagnant EU-Libyan relationship will be improved were still being considered, officials said.

A statement by Portugal, as current EU president, praised Libya for its "constructive attitude" and noted "the potential of increased EU-Libya cooperation in many areas of common interest."

The EU was committed to working on the framework of future EU-Libya relations, the statement added.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters he wanted a "further normalization" of relations with Libya but gave no indication of what this would involve.

Officials said further work on building better ties with Libya would be done by EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who played a key role in securing the release of the medics, five nurses and a doctor.

"This decision will open the way for a new and enhanced relationship between the EU and Libya," said Ferrero-Waldner, adding ties would also be reinforced with North African states.

But is Libya reliable?

Graham Watson, the leader of the European Parliament's liberal group, said Libya's decision to free the medics meant the country would not return to international isolation.

"This news will ... assist in the normalization of relations and open the possibility for closer cooperation through the Euro-Mediterranean partnership," Watson said.

He warned, however, that Libya still had to demonstrate that it could be a reliable partner in the long term.

Relations between the EU and Libya have improved in recent years, but the country is not a member of the bloc's 11-year-old Euro-Mediterranean (Euro-Med) partnership which covers all other North African countries.

EU diplomats have long argued that Libya does not meet the human rights and democracy standards required to join the Euro-Med relationship. But the country has been given observer status when attending Euro-Med meetings.

Libya is also not included in the EU's so-called "neighborhood policy" under which states on the bloc's southern and eastern borders receive financial aid for political and economic reform.

Change after UN sanctions lifted

EU relations with Libya began to improve slowly following the lifting of UN sanctions against Tripoli in September 2003, and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi visited EU institutions in April 2004. In October of that year, EU governments repealed so-called "restrictive measures" against Libya adopted as part of the UN framework and also lifted an arms embargo against the country introduced in 1986.


Recently, the European Commission, Italy and other EU states have sought Libyan help in combating the flow of illegal African immigrants to the EU.

Several EU member states have extensive trade relations with Libya. Italy, Germany, Britain and France are Libya's four leading suppliers of manufactured goods, energy and food products and raw materials.

Italy, Germany, Spain, France and Greece are Libya's top five export markets, taking in about 78 percent of the country's exports of energy, food products and raw materials.

Help for sick children

EU medical assistance has been given to victims of HIV/AIDS at Benghazi Hospital.

In 1999, the medics were declared guilty of deliberately infecting hundreds of children there with the virus. They received a pardon from Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov on Tuesday -- a sign of Bulgaria's acceptance of the group's complete innocence in the infections of the children.

Experts say the AIDS outbreak at Benghazi children's hospital was caused by bad hygiene.