The President of the Italian-Libyan Chamber of Commerce, Gian Franco Damiano visited the city of Benghazi to strengthen bilateral cooperation. He confirmed that the situation in Benghazi is “generally calm, and there are no critical aspects, especially towards Italian companies.”
The Italian Consulate has begun a series of outreach projects in order to carry out a reconstruction workshop that will be held in Benghazi. In turn, Damiano discussed various partnership opportunities with Italy, with the city’s Municipality.
Days ago, Italy’s Special Envoy to Libya, Nicola Orlando affirmed his support for Libya’s elections and the political process led by the United Nations.
This came after his meeting in Egypt with the Head of the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Tripoli, Mohamed Tharwat, and the Deputy Foreign Minister for the Middle East, Ahmed Abdel-Meguid.
Orlando explained that this took place within the framework of discussing the political and security track in Libya, and coordination efforts with Egypt.
Earlier in January, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Piero Fassino stated that there is an urgent need for an initiative by the EU and the US to unfreeze the stabilisation process in Libya. This has entered a stalemate after the 24 December elections were postponed.
In press statements, Fassino added, “In the absence of immediate or at least timely interventions by the EU and Washington, there is a risk that Turkey and other actors driven by colonial and non-colonial interests will take over the country under the pretext of guaranteeing a future of political stability and economic prosperity, as well as peace in the North African country.”
This is why Fassino is calling for a new international initiative, after the Berlin II Conference. The 23 June meeting, under the leadership of Germany and the UN brought together the Libyan transitional government and the representatives of 17 countries that have interests in the area, including such as Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, and France to work on restoring stability to Libya.