Following intense EU and French mediation, the Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor were released from their Tripoli prison. After the jubilation came realpolitik, with politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats intensifying contacts with oil-rich, authoritarian Libya. In Brussels, bureaucrats set about drafting the framework for negotiations for a framework agreement. Yet despite recent optimism, whichever direction EU-Libyan relations head, chances are that the EU could harm its standing in the region and betray its values.

 The release of six  foreign medics from a Tripoli prison in July 2007, after E.U. and French mediation ended an eight year ordeal, provoking sighs of relief across Europe. In Brussels, E.U. bureaucrats promptly got to work on pushing toward formal relations. Libya has been an observer in the Euro-Med Partnership (Barcelona Process) since 1999 and Brussels has said all along that its long-term objective is Libyan accession—primarily so that Europe can obtain full cooperation on controlling the flow of African immigrants that transit Libya on their way across the Mediterranean. On July 23, 2007, Libya and the E.U. reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which the European Commission followed up with a draft for negotiations for a framework agreement.