The Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni and the Libyan one Fayez al Serraj signed today in Rome a collaboration document on migrants: development, fight against illegal immigration, human trafficking, smuggling and strengthening border security are the key points of the agreement.
The document, made up of eight articles, envisages our country's commitment to support and finance growth programs in the regions affected by the phenomenon of illegal immigration in various sectors and to provide technical and technological support to the Libyan bodies responsible for the fight against the irregularity. For its part, Libya is committed to stemming the illegal flows.
“Today is an important day in relations between Italy and Libya. First of all because it confirms a friendship, a collaboration that has already manifested itself in recent months through the commitment of the Italian government on various fronts”, said Prime Minister Gentiloni.
“It must be clear that the memorandum we signed concerns our commitment to strengthen Libyan institutions in the fight against illegal immigration. For example, let's talk about the border police, this is just a part of the project that we have to develop". But, underlined the number one of Palazzo Chigi, the signature is “a piece of the project that we must develop. We will talk about it tomorrow in Malta. We know that if we want to give strength and legs” to this project, “we need an economic commitment from the European Union: Italy has already done it” with funds already earmarked.
In the evening Paolo Gentiloni was telephoned from Malta by EU leaders who wanted to congratulate him on the agreement. The Italian prime minister received a call from Joseph Muscat, prime minister of Malta and current president of the EU, Jean Claude Juncker, president of the Commission, Donald Tusk, president of the EU Council and Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament. Just in the day Tusk had called for the closure of the migration route between Libya and Italy. “The flow of migrants from Libya to Europe is not sustainable. Europe has shown that it is able to close illegal migration routes, as it has done in the Eastern Mediterranean. We discussed this example: now it's time to close the route from Libya to Italy".
