Details on the European mission to Libya: sustain peace, security and development

• Alaina
• . May 29, 2021
• . Update: May 29, 2021 9:06 pm
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It was the first official visit by an EU Commissioner since the inauguration of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s Government of National Unity. The Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, stressed that the visit testifies to the sensitization carried out by Italy towards Europe for a commitment in favor of peace, political stability, and economic recovery of Libya. Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio went on Friday to Tripoli, Libya, together with his Maltese counterpart, Evarist Bartolo, and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and the Neighborhood, Oliver Verheyen, who spoke of the “beginning of a renewed partnership “between the European Union and Libya.

“Peace, political stability, and economic recovery are the cornerstones on which we are also raising awareness in Europe. And today’s mission in Tripoli, with the presence of Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi and his Maltese colleague Evarist Bartolo, testifies to this”, wrote Di Maio on his return from Tripoli.

The ministers and the Commissioner met Prime Minister Dbeibah together with the Foreign Minister, Najla Mangoush, and the Minister of the Interior, Khaled Mazen, with whom they discussed the stabilization process, the economic revitalization of the country, and the migration issue. In the press conference held at the end of the meeting, the EU Commissioner stressed that the reopening of the EU representative office in Tripoli in recent days and today’s visit “are very important signals from the EU”, hoping that they are only “the first steps towards a new partnership, similar to the one we have with our neighbors.” In this regard, Verhelyi recalled the new ambitious Agenda for the Mediterranean developed by the EU.

“We would like Libya to be part of this common partnership we have created for the entire region. That’s why I’m here today. We shared our ideas and analysed the main challenges,” the Commissioner said. And if Libya is regaining stability and security, he added, these are undermined by illegal migratory flows, a common challenge on which the EU is ready to collaborate, as demonstrated by the fact that “we came here with our partners, Italy and Malta, the two Member States geographically closest to Libya “. “Stabilizing Libya also means strengthening the security of our country and therefore of all of Europe, stopping irregular migratory flows,” Di Maio confirmed.

For her part, the Libyan Foreign Minister Mangoush reported on an “all-around and different meeting on illegal migration”, referring to an agreement to “guarantee the security of the southern borders with the support of the EU”.Upon his return to Rome, Di Maio announced that next Monday, on the occasion of the visit to Rome of a Libyan delegation led by Prime Minister Dbeibah, a business forum will be held at the Farnesina with few companies. On 7 and 8 June, the Italian Libyan Business Development Association (ILBDA) also announced the 1^st Economic Forum for Libya, which will convene in Tunis 150 institutions from Italy, Libya and Tunisia.