ROME/NEW YORK, OCTOBER 5 – Italy fully supports a solution to the crisis in Libya through political dialogue, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, reiterated today in his address at the high-level ministerial meeting on Libya, co-organized by the UN General Secretariat and Germany on the sidelines of the 75th session of the Assembly General of the United Nations.
The meeting, opened by Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, was attended by Ministers of Foreign Affairs and senior representatives from Member States and regional organizations that are part of the Berlin process, as well as from Libya’s neighboring countries.
Minister Di Maio stressed the importance of the commitments made at the Berlin Conference and reiterated Italy’s full support for a comprehensive political solution to the Libyan crisis through intra-Libyan political dialogue within the framework of the United Nations. Di Maio expressed his hope that the institutional and political progress achieved in the Montreux talks in Switzerland and those underway in Bouznika, Morocco could be consolidated in the next meeting of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum.
The participants reaffirmed their commitment to the conclusions of the Berlin Conference on Libya held in January 2020, as endorsed by the Security Council through its resolution 2510 (2020). They expressed their gratitude to the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ms. Stephanie Williams, for her efforts to resume a Libyan-led and UN-facilitated political process. They also welcomed the adoption of the Security Council resolution 2542 (2020), which foresees the appointment by the Secretary-General of a new Special Envoy and Head of UNSMIL, as well as a Mission Coordinator. They highlighted the need to seize the opportunity created by the positive developments over the past few weeks to achieve peace and stability in Libya.
The Ministers highlighted the need for regional and international stakeholders to work together to help the Libyans find a lasting political settlement. In this regard, they welcomed the continued efforts of regional organizations to contribute to the ongoing peace efforts in Libya. In particular, they commended the African Union’s plans to convene a Libyan national reconciliation conference in Addis Ababa and strongly welcomed the planned resumption of intra-Libyan talks building on the calls for a ceasefire by the parties to the conflict on 21 August, as well as the Montreux recommendations which have identified elements of a political settlement to be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in late October 2020.
The participants called on all Libyan parties to act responsibly and constructively in the interest of their nation, and welcomed the recent lull in hostilities. They stressed the need to immediately stop foreign military interventions in Libya. There was broad agreement that repeated violations of the United Nations arms embargo had to stop immediately. (@OnuItalia)
