On Thursday, the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation issued a statement expressing its astonishment at the comments of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson regarding Libyan national political arrangements, considering them as interference in local Libyan affairs and an encroachment on the country’s sovereignty.

The Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that no country has the right to discuss the dates of national political commitments, noting that such rhetoric poses a significant risk to security in Libya. This came in response to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry accusing unnamed Libyan parties of promoting inaccurate information to distract attention from Libyan national political commitments.

The Libyan Foreign Ministry had accused its Egyptian counterpart of mishandling Libyan citizens during their entry and exit from Egyptian lands through the Salloum land port, as the Egyptian authorities forced them to wait for up to 15 hours without clear reasons. This is not the first diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Last March, Libya summoned the Chargé d’Affaires to the Egyptian embassy because of what the Libyan Foreign Ministry described as disregarding Libyan sovereignty in the Egyptian media.