Migrants, Meloni’s mission in Tripoli. Spotlight on the Mediterranean –

Back in Libya just over 2 months following her last mission in the country. On Wednesday 17 July, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, at the personal invitation of the Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Unity Abdulhameed Mohamed Dabaiba, will fly to Tripoli to participate in the “Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum” (TMMF). The event was organized at the initiative of the Libyan government with the aim of discussing efforts to address the root causes of migration, the fight once morest human trafficking, the repatriation and evacuation of migrants from transit countries, protection systems, border management and the promotion of cooperation between countries of origin, transit and destination in Africa and Europe. The forum will bring together representatives of 28 countries in the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as representatives of international governmental and non-governmental organizations. The EU will be represented by the Vice President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas who, in addition to meeting Dabaiba, will hold high-level consultations with members of the Libyan government on migration, development, security and protection systems, in particular for women and minors. The forum will be structured in two segments: the first at the level of heads of state and government and the heads of the international organizations involved, in which Meloni will take part, will be called upon to provide a strategic vision; the second, in which the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi will participate and to which numerous European and African Ministers of the Interior are invited, will instead focus on security cooperation, including the fight once morest migrant trafficking and irregular movements, the exchange of experiences and information, and legal channels of migration. On the eve of the event, in a Facebook post, Dabaiba said that the forum will be “a serious discussion platform to create a practical and strategic framework that ensures the development of African countries to stem the migration phenomenon, according to approaches that address the reality of the issue in the countries of origin following experience has shown the failure of the security solution”. “The Sahel countries are no longer just transit countries – the prime minister added – and the growing number of migrants places on us the moral and security responsibility to engage with all the countries concerned to develop comprehensive solutions that address the issue promptly and ensure a dignified life for African citizens in their own country”. Last week, during a press conference, the Libyan government’s Interior Minister, Imad Trabelsi, stressed the need to secure the southern borders to eliminate the main sources of illegal migration and also stressed that the number of workers present in Libya is around 2.5 million people, most of whom entered without a visa through the borders.

At the end of the forum, Meloni will fly directly to the United Kingdom where the meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) will be held on Thursday. According to what has been learned during the edition that will be held at Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site near Oxford, the migration issue will be discussed for the first time, with strong Italian pressure. In addition to the representatives of the States, the outgoing President of the European Council Charles Michel and the outgoing High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell will participate for the EU. The summit on Thursday 18 July will take place in three main moments. The opening plenary will be dedicated to Ukraine and European security and will be chaired by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Michel. Four parallel thematic round tables will then be held dedicated to: migration, co-chaired by Albania and Italy; energy and connectivity, co-chaired by Norway and Slovenia; defense of democracy, divided into two parallel sessions co-chaired by France and Moldova and by the European Council and Montenegro.