Abduction, Emergency and No Solution
A young woman in tears on a blurry video, crying and asking the International community for help, a list of demands and a deadline. These were the ingredients of a dramatic story unfolding in the late evening hours at the same time somewhere between Libya and in a half-lit backroom of a bar in Slovenia. The Security Council went out together to enjoy some drinks and Spanish music when news broke of an attempt at extortion by a yet unidentified terrorist group and the Council convened for a sudden emergency session.
The delegates were shown a video, showing the abducted daughter of the Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström. Ula Wallström was volunteering as an aid worker in Libya with the conviction to help the people, needing it most, as she was abducted by a terrorist group. With the video, a list of demands and a deadline were sent to the Council.
The international community must retreat immediately from Libya, stop their support for the Government of National Accord (GNA) and generally leave Libya alone, so was demanded.
The Council was given one hour to acknowledge the terrorists and their demands, or else Ula would be executed at sundown, so was threatened.
In a heated emergency session, the Security Council agreed not to negotiate with terrorists and to remain fierce. However no concrete solution was found to save the life of Ula. From steamrolling the whole country with armed troops to throwing money around to buy Ula free without meeting the actual demands, several more or less useful solutions were proposed but in the end, the only action taken was to release a press statement condemning the abduction in sharp words. This demonstrates again the difficulty the UNSC has in reacting effectively to crisis situations.
The statemente the UNSC issued reads as follows:
The United Nations Security Council strongly condemns the the abduction of Ula Wallström and terrorism as a threat to global peace and security. The member states are working to find a solution that will save her as fast as possible. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.
