For the Commission, the Italian sailors imprisoned in Tripoli do not even exist …
The fishing boat 'Tramontana' in a photo published on the 'Vesselfinder' website, 23 July 2019. +++ ATTENTION THE PHOTO CANNOT BE PUBLISHED OR REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE AUTHORIZATION OF THE SOURCE OF ORIGIN TO WHICH YOU ARE REFERRED NO SALES EDITORIAL USE ONLY ++
I hope you all remember the kidnapping by the Libyans of Benghazi six 18 sailors from Mazara del Vallo, for which the Italian government is doing absolutely nothing. Di Maio will be Brunetta's "best pupil", but for our workers he has not yet dug a spider out of the hole.
MEPs Francesca Donato, Marco Zanni, Marco Campomenosi, Antonio Mario Rinaldi, Alessandro Panza, Paolo Borchia, Annalisa Tardino, Stefania Zambelli, Vincenzo Sofo, Angelo Ciocca and Gianantonio Da Re turn to the High Representative for foreign policy Union, a kind of foreign minister of the Commission, to find out if he is aware of the situation and if he intends to do something. Here is the text of the question.
On 1 0 September last 18 seamen from Mazara del Vallo, while they were on a fishing trip about 38 nautical miles north of the coast of Cyrenaica, were kidnapped by members of the Libyan army and were taken to Benghazi aboard some rafts. Their two fishing boats were also seized by General Haftar's militias.
For almost a month there was no further news of the fate of the crews. Later, it has been established that they are in custody; the Libyan authorities, in response to Italian requests, asked for the release of four Libyan citizens sentenced by the court of Catania to 30 years in prison for trafficking in human beings and for the death at sea of 49 migrants.
These kidnappings are added to other unfortunate episodes that have occurred in the past. In light of the above, can the Commission answer the following questions:
- Are you aware of the facts?
- What actions can you take to quickly resolve this distressing situation for the fishermen involved, their families and for the many fishermen who find themselves operating in these areas of the Mediterranean where pirate acts for blackmail continue to take place in clear violation of international law?
After some time the High Commissioner replied. Here is the text of his answer.
The conflict in Libya is a serious problem for the region and for the security and stability of the EU. The EU's priority is to end the military conflict and ensure an adequate transition in Libya to ensure that the country can be a united, stable and reliable partner. To this end, the EU actively participates in the United Nations (UN) led Berlin Process for Libya, which constitutes the international framework endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2510 to relaunch the political process in Libya 1 .
The Commission fully supports the peaceful resolution of the issues mentioned by the Honorable Members, in line with the United Nations principle of abstention from the threat or use of force in international relations and with the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ( UNCLOS).
In the past, the EU had invited the Libyan authorities then in office to ratify the UNCLOS also in the context of the previous dialogue on maritime and fisheries issues between the EU and Libya. Due to the political situation in the country at that time this dialogue was suspended. The EU will encourage Libya to become a party to the UNCLOS convention and will relaunch the dialogue when the conditions are right.
While the European External Action Service and EU Delegations in third countries actively facilitate coordination and cooperation between Member States' embassies and consulates, it is important to emphasize that direct consular assistance for EU citizens falls within within the competence of the Member States. The Commission therefore invites you to contact the competent Italian authorities directly.
The High Commissioner does not even bother to mention the case of our sailors. All the rest is, allow me, diplomatic supercazzola and well done badly. How can a government not recognized by the EU and the UN, such as that of General Haftar in Benghazi, join UNCLOS, the treaty on the mutual recognition of exclusive economic zones. Among other things, Libya, that of Al Serraj, has agreed a controversial and bizarre EEZ with Turkey which divides the eastern Mediterranean in half, ignoring the physical presence of Greece, Italy and Malta.
So, to summarize:
- the High Commissioner ignores what happened to the Sicilian sailors, or, frankly, he doesn't care;
- the High Commissioner has no idea how the Libyan diplomatic mess between Haftar, Sarraj, Turkey, Egypt and Russia can be resolved.
This response is at the level of the one where Commission President Von Der Leyen claimed that Hagia Sophia was not in Istanbul, but in Cyprus. What is the use of a commission that is unable to answer even basic questions from citizens?
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The article For the Commission the Italian sailors prisoners in Tripoli do not even exist … comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/per-la-commissione-i-marinai-italiani-prigionieri-a-tripoli-neanche-esistono/ on Sun, 29 Nov 2020 17:02:40 +0000.