Relations with Libya are a priority for Italy and the European Union, Premier Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday on her fourth visit to Tripoli since becoming Italy's first woman premier two years ago and boosting ties with Africa to help stem migrant departures, ANSA reported.
"This is my fourth visit to Libya since I took over the government.
This frequency of reciprocal visits is the result of a very specific political choice of our government: we consider the relationship with Libya a priority for Italy and a priority for Europe," Meloni said at the Italy-Libya Business Forum in Tripoli.
"And we are convinced that the deep cooperation that binds us has not yet expressed its full potential".
Meloni went on to say that there was "broad cooperation" with Tripoli on the migration issue and Italy and Libya were fighting illegal migration while trying to boost legal migration.
She said: "Together with the work we do to combat mass illegal immigration and to guarantee the right not to have to emigrate, that is, to promote growth and development, it is essential to promote legal migration channels.
"The Italian government has brought forward a three-year flow decree for 450,000 entries, to promote legal migration.
But these are mechanisms that only work if the production systems of the two nations that are cooperating talk to each other, if they are connected systems upstream, if there is a match between supply and demand for work and if there is training work".
The Prime Minister recalled her participation in the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum in July, also in Tripoli, "a very important initiative wanted by the Prime Minister to address, together with Italy, the EU and African nations, the issue of managing migratory flows and combating human traffickers.
"The cooperation we are carrying out corresponds overall to a very broad vision".
Meloni also said that "we are at Libya's side in this phase of development"; that "there is a new phase in trade relations with Libya"; and that "Italy is a bridge for Libya towards the energy market".
