Meloni keeps up her North Africa cooperation mission with her fourth visit to Libya

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has visited Libya for the fourth time since taking office, underlining her government's desire to deepen strategic ties with Tripoli and North Africa, focusing on economic cooperation and migration control 

"This is my fourth visit to Libya since assuming office and my third just this year. These frequent visits underscore a deliberate policy decision by this government,” the Italian prime minister said at the Italy-Libya Business Forum in Tripoli. 

“We consider our relationship with Libya a priority for Italy, a priority for Europe, and we believe that the deep cooperation between our nations has yet to reach its full potential," she added. 

During her speech, Meloni announced the resumption of Ita Airways flights between Italy and Libya in January 2025, noting that "Italy has become the first Western nation to lift travel restrictions for business visits to Libya." 

The objectives of her mission include revitalising economic cooperation, tackling migration management and promoting the Mattei Plan, a framework for partnerships with African countries.  

The forum, Italy's first in Libya in more than a decade, is attended by over 200 Italian companies and represents an important step towards increased cooperation. Libya's Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Adel Jumaa, expressed his hope that the forum would consolidate cooperation between the two nations, with agreements expected in key sectors such as energy, infrastructure, health, and agriculture. 

In addition to the forum, Meloni will meet with Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. Italian sources stress that Italy's cooperation with Libya goes beyond economic matters and extends to migration management. Italy and Libya want to promote "equal partnerships" under the Mattei Plan and strengthen ties with African countries involved in migration routes. 

Meloni reiterated Italy's support for UN efforts to unify Libya's institutions through a political process, while Italy's broader stance has been to work with transit countries, including Libya and Tunisia, to reduce migrant flows to Europe. 

However, the situation for migrants in Libya has been repeatedly denounced, not only by NGOs but also by the United Nations.  

Migrants and refugees continue to suffer grave and widespread human rights abuses, such as “Trafficking, torture, forced labour, extortion, starvation in intolerable conditions of detention”,  committed “on a large scale with total impunity”, a report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk published in July writes. 

Agreements signed by Italy—starting with the 2017 Memorandum of Understanding on Migration—provide technical and financial support to the Libyan authorities, specifically to facilitate the interception of thousands of people attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Italy and their forced return to Libya. 

For several years, IOM and the UNHCR have reiterated that "no one rescued at sea should be returned to Libya, which is not a safe port”. 

However, it appears that these agreements are beginning to bear fruit in terms of the number of migrants now arriving in Europe.  

The central Mediterranean route, the main migration route to Italy, has seen a "significant" drop in crossings in recent months - a 64% drop to 32,200 between January and July, according to a Frontex report. 

The EU's border agency attributes this decrease mainly to preventive measures taken by authorities in Tunisia and Libya to dismantle smuggling networks, noting that arrivals from these two countries account for 95% of all reported migrants on this route.  

(Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)