Italian Defense Minister, Lorenzo Guerini, and his German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, have agreed on the importance of Operation IRINI, in monitoring the UN arms embargo on Libya.
The two ministers also discussed the current escalation of violence, deteriorating situation, and response to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Operation IRINI has a series of secondary tasks, such as the prevention of illicit oil exports from Libya, capacity building and training of the Libyan coast guard, and supporting the fight against human traffickers, and their networks.
It is worth noting that the Head of the Presidential Council for the Government of National Accord, Fayez Al-Sarraj, rejected the operation, due to IRINI taking place only at sea. He argued it failed to monitor Libya’s airspace, and land borders, where he claims the majority of Haftar’s arms come through.