The head of the Italian Government finalizes a “historic” gas import agreement and offers her help to resolve the serious political crisis
Jan. 28 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, has finalized this Saturday a “historic” agreement between the energy company Eni, controlled by the Italian Government, and the Libyan state company for an approximate value of 7,300 million euros to start up two deposits of gas off the coast of Tripoli.
The agreement aims to reactivate the hydrocarbons energy sector in Libya — which is its main source of income –, in addition to providing Italy with at least 1,100 million additional cubic meters of gas from 2026, thus taking another step in their wishes to replace Russian gas.
The signatures have been affixed by the CEO of ENI, Claudio Descalzi and the President of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC), Farhat Bengdara.
In his first visit to the country after taking office in October last year, Meloni highlighted the historical relations between the two countries at a time when Libya is immersed in a new episode of its long political crisis and once again divided into two administrations. parallel.
Meloni was received by the Prime Minister of Unity, Abdelhamid Debeibé, who is not recognized by the authorities in the east of the country, who consider that his mandate is illegitimate as his term has expired without the holding of constantly postponed elections and right now without a fixed date .
In addition, Meloni has also discussed the current position of Libya as an essential stopover on the migration route to Europe and an essential player in the strategy against unauthorized arrivals that the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party intends to apply, despite the multiple complaints from international organizations that accuse their authorities of mistreatment and abuse of detained migrants.
“Libya is a priority for Italian security, it is no coincidence that the visit to Tripoli is one of my first institutional visits to the area,” Meloni said in statements collected by the newspaper ‘L’Stampa’, in a meeting to negotiate with Tripoli more economic aid in exchange for even stricter anti-migration controls.
“Efforts must be redoubled”, assured Meloni, for whom “cooperation in the fight against irregular immigration flows is a fundamental issue for all”.
On the crisis in Libya, Meloni has assured that “Italy will commit to doing its part to guarantee greater unity on the part of the international community on the issue.”
“We have reiterated Italy’s full readiness to favor a legitimate path for the holding of elections and for the stabilization of the Libyan situation, essential to allow our association to reach a much greater potential than it already exists,” he said.
