“Tonight the Security Council of the United Nations passed another resolution concerning the situation in Libya.

Germany abstained from the vote on this resolution.

On the one hand, the resolution contains a significant tightening of the international sanctions against the Gaddafi regime. We welcome this and support this. We pushed this forward ourselves.

But we are still very sceptical about the option for military intervention in Libya also included in the resolution. We see considerable dangers and risks in this. Therefore we cannot agree to this part of the resolution.

German soldiers will not participate in a military operation in Libya.

Our position towards the Gaddafi regime remains unchanged: the dictator must end the violence against his own people immediately. He must step down and be held accountable for his crimes.”