The President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, travelled to Tripoli today, where she met with President of the Libyan Presidential Council Al-Menfi and Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Unity Dabaiba. President Meloni was accompanied by Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini, Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci, and Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi.
Following the meeting, declarations of intent were signed regarding university cooperation and research, health, sport and young people, as part of the ‘Mattei Plan for Africa’.
President Meloni reiterated the commitment to work with Libya in all areas of common interest through an equal partnership based on concrete projects, in particular in the energy and infrastructure sectors. During their discussion, President Meloni and Prime Minister Dabaiba decided to organise an Italy-Libya business forum by the end of the year in order to further explore investment opportunities.
With President Al-Menfi and Prime Minister Dabaiba, the President of the Council of Ministers also discussed the importance of holding presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya, within the framework of UN mediation that needs to be relaunched. In this regard, Italy will continue its efforts to ensure greater unity of intent among the international community and to support cooperation between Libya and the European Union.
President Meloni then travelled to Benghazi where she met with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, with whom she discussed, among other things, Italian initiatives in the fields of agriculture and health that also concern the area of Cyrenaica. She also reaffirmed Italy’s readiness, also through the specialised expertise of its private sector, to help with the reconstruction of Derna, which was hit by last year’s dramatic flooding, in line with the comprehensive response Italy provided in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.
Reconstruction was also discussed with President Al-Menfi, who recalled Italy’s generous commitment.
During today’s visit, the President of the Council of Ministers expressed her appreciation for the results achieved by the two nations’ cooperation on migration. In this regard, President Meloni believes it remains crucial to intensify efforts to combat human trafficking, also at regional level, and in line with the specific attention Italy is paying to this global challenge as part of its Presidency of the G7.