What Italy must do in Libya
Marco Mayer's speech on Libya and beyond
Because – after a secular delay – the southern question can be successfully addressed by the 200 billion Europeans of the Recovery Fund, there is an imperative condition that nobody talks about: Italian foreign policy must go back to being far-sighted and ambitious!
The future of the south is, in fact, inextricably linked to its ability to become a nerve center for economic exchanges, environmental, health and digital cooperation and scientific and university relations with the countries of the enlarged Mediterranean and Africa.
For this to materialize, one cannot limit oneself to the European dimension which often appears powerless in matters of foreign policy. Faced with the recent Turkish "conquests" in Misrata, the great Russian activism in the area, it is not really the case to wait; after all, it is the initiative of one or more member states that pushes the EU to act in a common framework.
For this we need an immediate qualitative leap in bilateral relations with numerous countries, starting with Libya. The impression is that in recent weeks the missions of the Farnesina on the south bank are short-term; almost exclusively aimed at obtaining a newspaper headline on repatriation.
The dimension is quite different and in this perspective one could imagine – just to give an example – a great extraordinary program of inter-university cooperation between Italian and Maghreb universities in the field of medicine and security.
But Libya and Tripoli in particular should be the subject of a very special commitment by the Farnesina in close contact with the relevant spending ministries.
With the Libyans (it is not easy due to the many internal divisions and external interference) Italy should agree on substantial and immediate interventions for the city of Tripoli; for the port and its management, for the airport with an enhancement of its internal connections and with neighboring countries, for health and hospital facilities, also for rail connections with the crucial area of Fezzan where terrorist groups have unfortunately found support local logistics and operations.
The spaces for action for Italy's central and propulsive role in Libya are all there also in view of future cooperation on the ground. Indeed, many of our European allies do not see favorably either the exponential and sudden growth of the Tripoli / Istanbul / Ankara / Doha axis as regards the western front or the pact between Benghazi, Abu Dhabi and Moscow on the eastern one.
In the list of the Recovery Fund, Ministers Gualtieri, Amendola and Provenzano should immediately include projects and initiatives based in the South, but with the characteristics of Hubs aimed at the outside: to Libya and to the entire Mediterranean area. In this context, the South of Italy could become a great Euro-Mediterranean platform in terms of diplomacy, military assets, technological and marine cooperation, economic, social and health investments. The opposite of Gioia Tauro and therefore not a terminal of opaque operations, but a driving force for positive projects and growth.
The premises are there, there is the cornerstone of ENI, there is an Italian military presence of excellence (as in all the foreign theaters where we operate), there is an excellent tradition of health cooperation and cultural and archaeological exchanges. Even on the humanitarian and human rights level, an all-round Italian intervention would remove any alibi.
In agreement with the United Nations, it is a question of negotiating the harshest repression of traffickers and the demolition of detention centers as a "sine qua non" condition for all operational programs.
The problem in this whole scenario is that the great absentee – as often happens in Italy – is politics. There is an endemic tendency to be subordinate: in the past decade to France over Libya and Russia over energy, today to China over 5G and telecommunications. There is no need to bother counter-espionage and even less the prosecutors. Today many local entities (companies, professional firms, import / export, etc.) work in full legality (more or knowingly) against our national interests and also to oppose European cohesion. Free to do so if they do not incur offenses.
The question is another: is it or is it not time to give back to politics what belongs to politics: to serve the country. I don't know what Luigi Di Maio wants to do when he grows up. But I guess he cares about his reputation and wants to leave a good memory at the Farnesina. What are you waiting for? The quarrelsome Libyan leaders, Turkish and Russian diplomacy, Arab countries are not standing idle. It is only by taking the Libya dossier in hand with determination and perseverance that the Foreign Minister can recreate confidence in Italy in the Mediterranean and in Europe.
Only resuming a leading role in Libya with vigor can pave the way for a Mediterranean policy and cooperation with the African continent which is the essential condition for the rebirth of the South and consequently of the whole of Italy. Otherwise, with the Russian military ships in Sirte and the Turkish ones in Misrata, not only the South will remain on the edge of the future of the Mediterranean, but the decline of the north and of the whole of Italy will become irreversible.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/italia-ue-libia-mediterraneo-intervento-mayer/ on Sat, 22 Aug 2020 08:05:11 +0000.