Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, said it is still not possible to reach an agreement on the elections in Libya, despite the efforts of United Nations (UN) Envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily, who is backed by Italy.
Tajani told Italy’s Radio 24 that his country has already provided a patrol boat to the Libyan Coast Guard and will hand over two more boats in the coming weeks. It will do this in the presence of the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi.
The Italian top diplomat affirmed that Rome was working on the Libyan file for the sake of stability in the entire region, considering the various influences exercised by Turkey and Egypt, and talking to all key powers on the ground.
According to the European Union (EU) Observer news site, European Commission is working to further shore up the Libyan Coast Guard, and launch anti-smuggling partnerships with Tunisia and Egypt. These proposals were outlined in a letter sent earlier this week by European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen to Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
The letter came in response to a query by Meloni to the European Commission over the recent drowning of some 70 people, including children, off the Calabrian coast.
“First, we must coordinate our actions with key patterns to prevent irregular departures, and save lives at sea,” von der Leyen said in her letter.
“This includes priority funding with Tunisia and Egypt, as well as further support to Libya’s maritime border management, and search-and-rescue capacities,” she said.
NGO boats are currently under intense pressure from Rome’s far-right government, under Meloni’s leadership. Geo Barents, a rescue boat operated by Doctors without Borders, was recently detained and fined €10,000 by Italian authorities.
In February, the European Commission, alongside Italian authorities donated new patrol boats to the Libyan Coast Guard, and announced some 800 million euros for North Africa, up until 2024.
Notably, Tajani said last week that “halting the flow of illegal migrants across the Mediterranean is mainly linked to the improvement of the situation in Libya and Tunisia.”
The Italian news agency, Aki quoted Tajani as saying, “stopping migration flows does not only include preventing the arrival of these ‘death boats’, but also by helping the countries suffering from massive crises, especially Tunisia, which suffers a financial crisis, and achieving stability in Libya.”