Libya, tomorrow Draghi in Tripoli: first visit abroad by the Prime Minister

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05 April 2021 Mario Draghi's first official visit is to Libya.

It is not a casual choice, but a strategic one, that of the Italian Prime Minister, in a land on the border with Italy and strategically fundamental for the geopolitical balance.

Not only for the issue of migrants, which also remains among the hottest dossiers, especially in view of next summer, but above all in the match with EU partners and in the eastern quadrant of the Old Continent.

Especially now that there is a new government of national unity in office, which also receives the applause of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel: "An opportunity has been created to rebuild Libya, but there is a precondition: all fighters and foreign troops must leave the country ".

Michel, who speaks of a "historic moment", urges us to seize this "unique opportunity to build a united, stable, prosperous and sovereign country".

Accompanying the premier will be the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, who in the last two weeks has firmly tightened the bolts of diplomatic relations with two visits to Tripoli: the first on March 21, to meet - first among the ministers of European countries - the new premier, Abdul Hamid Dabaiba;

the second on 25 March, with the heads of diplomacy in France and Germany, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Josef Maas, as part of an EU mission.

In the morning, Draghi will be received at the Government Palace for a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Dabaiba.

There are many topics that the leaders of the two countries will have to discuss, not only on the political level but also in the economic one, given the strong and historical link of Italian companies with Libya.

In this sense it will be very important to reopen the dialogue for what has been renamed the 'Highway of Peace'.

At the end of the meeting, then, the Prime Minister will hold a joint press point with Dabaiba.

Draghi's day in Tripoli will continue at the historic palace, for a summit with the President of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Younis Ahmed al-Menfi.

To testify the particularly prosperous moment in relations with Libya, there is also the visit of a delegation of ENAV, led by the CEO Paolo Simioni, who met in Tripoli the Minister of Transport, Muhammad Salem Al-Shahoubi, and the President of the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority, Mustafa Benammar, to plan the interventions necessary for the relaunch of civil aviation in the North African country and facilitate the restoration of direct connections with Italy and Europe.

In fact, ENAV will support Libyan aviation in the coming months by replacing the damaged equipment of the new control tower of the Mitiga international airport, built by the body two years ago and providing, among others, cutting-edge technology for the towers of control of Tripoli and Misrata airports and for the Capital Area Control Center.

All signs that a historic relationship is being strengthened between Italy and Libya, which places our country in an important position also in the continental chessboard.