Italian Senate Approves Funding for Military Mission in Libya

On Wednesday, the Italian Senate has agreed to refinance the military mission in Libya to train and support the Libyan coast guard to tackle illegal immigration.

The decision came during the consideration of renewing the funding of Italian missions abroad for another year, with the approval of 260 parliamentarians, and 14 others refused, while two members abstained from voting, according to Aki.

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The Italian Five-star Movement praised the council's vote, saying that Italy's commitment to Libya to support the legitimate government in Tripoli to combat illegal immigration responds to the national interest with priority and clear importance."

In a note, the movement expressed its hope that cooperation with Libya would come in a European framework, not just bilateral, which means that it would abide, as a precondition, to completely secure the human rights of migrants and strictly respect international agreements.

The movement added that the Government of National Accord (GNA) had agreed to review the memorandum of cooperation signed in 2017, thanks to the work of the Italian government and especially the efforts of Foreign Minister Luigi de Mayo, saying, "We hope that the modification methods will end as soon as possible."

Chaos in Libya

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has been in chaos. Since 2015, the two ruling powers have been in conflict – the GNA based in Tripoli (west), and a parallel government supported by Haftar in the east of the country.