Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Marina Sereni said that Italy and Europe should re-launch the commitment to a ceasefire in Libya in light of the recent approval of the new European naval mission IRINI, which aims to monitor the arms embargo imposed by the United Nations on Libya.
In a letter she wrote to an Italian newspaper, Sereni said, “We had not understood before today, like today, that we are all in the same boat and that no one can save oneself alone as mentioned by Pope Francis.”
For that reason, Sereni added, “Our country cannot fail to heed the United Nations’s appeal.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community to reach a global ceasefire and to re-launch 17 major UN goals for 2030 in the context of the new crisis.
Sereni reiterated that Covid-19 does not respect borders or distinguish between ethnicity, political opinions or religious beliefs.
She said that if conflict areas remain active, nothing will be done to counter the spread of Coronavirus.
“We are talking about places already destroyed by war, with millions of refugees who have had to leave their homes with absolutely inadequate health systems,” she said.