Antonio Tajani, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, reaffirmed his support for the UN Special Envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily’s attempts to arrange elections in Libya.
During a press conference at the Foreign Press Association in Italy, Tajani stated that Rome supports efforts to “promote stability and the capacity to organise elections as soon as possible.”
According to the Nova news agency, the FM confirmed that “Italy has also started negotiations with all Libyan parties, including the Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Khalifa Haftar, who controls a significant portion of the east.”
He declared, “We are supplying patrol boats to the Libyan Coast Guard to counter illicit migration.” According to Tajani, the boats were provided as a result of a fund established by the European Union.
The FM noted that they are “intensively working with all parties in this terribly divided country” and that the two nations had also secured energy agreements.
Last month, Tajani called for “close coordination with Algeria to facilitate the national reconciliation in Libya, and support the stability of the Sahel region.”
This came in a telephone call he held with his new Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Attaf, regarding the main regional files.
He stressed the importance of Italian-Algerian cooperation for the stability and security of the Mediterranean region. Tajani called on Attaf to “work in close coordination to support Tunisia, facilitate national reconciliation in Libya, and support the stability of the Sahel region.”
Tajani also emphasized the importance of Italy’s cooperation with Algeria at the political, economic, and security levels. He expressed his hope to “deepen the already excellent bilateral relations with Algeria.”
Earlier, Tajani said that “Italy is working to make Libya a stable country. We are talking with everyone. We went to Tripoli with the Prime Minister (Giorgia Meloni), and we provided patrol boats to the Libyan Coast Guard.”
