On 10 July, a meeting on the incident and wider migration crisis reportedly took place between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and the Maltese PM Robert Abela on the sidelines of Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025. They reportedly agreed to reach out to the Government of National Stability (GNS) and arrange a new migration-focused mission to eastern Libya.
On 11 July, a spokesperson for the European Commission said they had ‘agreed to continue the dialogue with Libya and to continue the Team Europe approach, deciding to send back the delegation to Libya to continue the visit.’
On 16 July, Tripoli PM Abdul Hameed Dabaiba called a meeting of the EU, Greek, Italian and Maltese ambassadors to Libya to discuss the incident, accusing the eastern authorities of using the migration issue as a tool of political pressure and blackmail, much as Muammar al-Qadhafi had done in the past. Most of the meeting was reportedly devoted to the presentation of the national plan for managing migration flows prepared by the Government of National Unity (GNU), with a call to European interlocutors—particularly Italy—to work together to implement it. Dabaiba recommended not immediately proceeding with a new direct political engagement with eastern Libya, to avoid further strengthening the dynamics of migratory pressure.
On 17 July, Greek Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis accused Libyan authorities of weaponizing migration to pressure Greece, likening their tactics to those previously used by Turkey. He claimed Libya uses two strategies: issuing illegal maritime maps and facilitating waves of migrants toward southern Greece.
On 19 July, Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said, ‘The Coast Guard has detained the illegal migrants who entered from Libya in recent hours. They do not have the right to apply for asylum and will not be transferred to reception centres; instead, they will be held in police custody until the deportation process begins.’ The Greek Coast Guard said that the 190 migrants arrived in three groups in the south of the island of Crete, while a fourth group of 11 migrants was found near the island of Agathonisi, off the Turkish coast.
On 22 July, Politico published an interview with Magnus Brunner in which he said the European Union must remain ready to negotiate with Khalifa Haftar in order to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from further weaponizing migration. He said, ‘There is certainly a danger that Russia … [will] use migrants and the migration issue as a whole as a weapon against Europe.’
Brunner said the dangers of Putin’s influence in Libya left Europe with little choice but to hold talks with Haftar and ‘put our options on the table when it comes to migration diplomacy.’ That would entail coupling migration negotiations with issues like development aid for Libya or making it easier for Libyans to get European visas, Brunner said.