Italian Foreign Minister Luigi de Mayo said that despite continued work with international partners to hold the Libyan elections, “prospects remain uncertain on the issue of the 24 December deadline.
According to his opening address on Monday to the 14th Conference of Italian Ambassadors in the World, “work was under way to achieve the complex goal of holding elections.”
De Mayo spoke of how Italy’s efforts to support multilateral action have resulted in important steps forward, saying that there are “growing tensions on the ground, further removing the prospects for implementing the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters from the country.”
“Libya, for us, is not just a country with which we have substantial economic relations, and it is also a country that must be stabilized, to ward off the threat of terrorism and address the issue of migration constructively.”
The Italian minister stressed the need to continue to strongly call on the Libyan parties to make a constructive commitment to establish a clear horizon for the electoral process as soon as possible, and those elections must be free, fair, comprehensive and credible.”
“Growing tensions are ruling out the possibility of foreign mercenaries withdrawing from the country, so what is more urgent is to call on the Libyan parties to commit constructively,” he said.
“Achieving stability in a united and sovereign Libya is a strategic goal for Italy,” he said, noting that “the ceasefire is in force today in Libya, and work is under way to achieve the complex objective of the elections.”
