It is the last day of the first month of 2020. Unfortunately, although 2020 is the new year, it has already become a search for the old.

The death toll related to the coronavirus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan putting the whole world on alert, is on a dramatic rise. As of Jan. 29, 2020, a total of 7,711 cases have been identified and the death toll has risen to 170, officials said. The virus continues to spread to countries thousands of miles away, such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and France. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that the coronavirus epidemic is a problem not only for China but also for the world, calling on the whole world to take action. The WHO will hold an emergency meeting on the issue today.

Jan. 31, 2020 is also a historic day for the EU. While watching Wednesday’s final session in the European Parliament, where most British members of Parliament delivered emotional speeches, we all saw how Brexit was also a turning point for the EU and the beginning of a new process.

As we expected, the Brexit deal, which ended Britain’s nearly half-century of EU membership in a vote at the European Parliament's General Assembly, was accepted with 621 votes in favor and 49 votes against. Britain’s 73 members of Parliament, who will leave the EU by midnight today, will also leave the European Parliament.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is not standing idly by. While continuing his threatening statements to rival countries regarding the economy on one hand, he seems determined to play a leading role in the emergence of new problems in the Middle East by taking Israel with him at a table where there are no Palestinians and with a proposal in the interest of Israel. It is certain that we will have new developments in this regard in the coming weeks. The proposals for a peace plan without Palestine will continue to raise the reaction of the whole world as the imposition of no resolution as a solution, as it has been so far. Unfortunately, the Palestinians will continue to suffer this course of affairs.

The Berlin Conference, which took place on Jan. 19, 2020, on recent developments in Libya and Syria should not go unnoticed in the world and by the European public in particular, while the developments that have rightly preoccupied the world public opinion in the first month of 2020, of which I have mentioned only three above.

First, let me remind you that the war in which innocent people are being slaughtered in Syria is not over. It is sad, particularly for the European public, to have a view that recognizes this war as part of everyday life now. Since there is no influx of asylum seekers from Syria to Europe, what happens in Syria is no longer of much concern to the public. Thanks to Turkey, the number of Syrian asylum seekers in European capitals has not and is not increasing. In Syria, however, people continue to be bombed and slaughtered. Idlib is under massive attack. Dictator Assad’s army is bombing Idlib every day to make it a giant cemetery. People are fleeing toward the Turkish border. However, Europe is indifferent and is just content with remarks. Indeed, it is urgently necessary to organize life in safer areas in cooperation with Turkey. Otherwise, no one should be surprised at the rising number of Syrian asylum seekers in European capitals. EU countries that do not want to experience what happened in 2015 again could face far more grave developments in 2020. If they do not want this, they should not abandon Turkey.

However, the real danger for Europe is in Libya. Moreover, with the support of the EU and NATO-member France, there is growing danger every day. Libyans were very delighted with the Berlin conference, with a growing hope that the bloodshed would stop and people would no longer die. Unfortunately, this did not last very long. Khalifa Haftar, the putschist who wants a dictatorship, not a democracy, in Libya, did not and does not abide by the cease-fire, violating the Berlin conference resolutions. Determined to shed blood in Libya with the support of countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which oppress those who demand democracy by all means of oppression in their own countries, the putschist Haftar continues to slaughter people who support Libya’s U.N.-recognized government, which came into office as a result of democratic elections. The country he trusts most is France, which sells weapons to the dictatorships that support him and has plans for Libya’s natural resources. France, which is the villain of the piece when it comes to troubles in Libya since the outbreak of the crisis in 2011, is providing military support to Haftar, who continues to attack the legitimate government in Libya. Moreover, the French president has personally hosted representatives of Haftar, the putschist who threatens Libya’s territorial integrity, falling at odds with EU values in the first place.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has failed at sustaining domestic policy in France, is likely to soon be a headache for EU member states with his Libya policy. It is a fact that French citizens are very unhappy because of the events and strikes that happen every day in France where firefighters are chasing the police. If France continues to support the putschist Haftar in Libya, not just French, but all EU citizens will face new problems.

EU member states can be confident that they will experience a large influx of asylum seekers as a result of the civil war in Libya getting even more bloody or they can expect that putschist Haftar will take over Libya due to France’s support. This might be the beginning of problems. The real problems will start after that. It is worth reminding what has happened to the U.S. and its allies, who have been supporting Taliban terrorism in Afghanistan. Those who have had to fight against the Taliban they brought to power must make sure they cannot have a long friendly relationship with a Libya seized by the putschist Haftar.

All of Europe, especially the EU, should not allow the Libyans to be the victims of France’s wrong policy on Libya, along with all the other existing problems on this issue. Otherwise, all Europeans, not just Libyans, will have a big problem.