Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, has stressed the need for a new United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) envoy to be appointed as soon as possible. Former UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame resigned on the 2nd of March, citing health conditions.
Di Maio stressed during a joint press conference, with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, that there was no military solution for Libya, only a political solution existed. He considered the EU’s Operation IRINI, to be crucial in restricting the flow of weapons to Libya.
The Italian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marina Sereni, emphasized the need for Europe to prioritize achieving stability in Libya. Sereni said the EU must assist in the achievement of a permanent ceasefire, and the resumption of UN peace talks. According to an article published on the Italian Huffington Post website, the Deputy Foreign Minister highlighted the need to vote unanimously in the Security Council, to extend the arms embargo imposed on Libya, for another year.