On Wednesday, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced the appointment of a new Italian Consul for Benghazi, in eastern Libya.
During a briefing to the Lower House of Parliament on Libya, Di Maio added that the Carlo Batori has been “appointed as Consul, and will assume his duties on May 26th.”
“The foreign ministry has also begun the necessary steps to reopen Italy’s foreign trade agency’s office and the Italian cultural institute in Tripoli. We have also embarked on the gradual revitalisation of the Italian Cultural Institute in the Libyan capital, Tripoli,” Di Maio stated, according to AKI news agency.
In April, Di Maio announced the re-opening of Italy’s consulate in Benghazi, which has been closed since 2013 after gunmen attempted to attack the premises.
The FM has visited Libya three times since Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed in early March.
“Strengthening our network in Libya will be essential in order to reactivate all those projects which were suspended due to the instability in the country, as well as to launch new ones,” Di Maio said during one of his visits to the country. “This is to enhance Libya’s new-found unity and to ensure the presence of our institutions in Cyrenaica and in Fezzan,” he concluded.