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Delegation of European diplomats expelled from Libya
2025-07-09 09:39:50 / BOTA
Deported with the order to “ immediately leave Libyan territory ” and declared “ undesirable .” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, along with his Maltese counterparts, Byron Camilleri, and Greek, Thanos Plevris, as well as European Commissioner Mark Brunner, who had planned a meeting with General Haftar’s ministers today, were stopped upon arrival at the airport and ordered to leave the country immediately.
This was officially announced by the government of Osama Hamad, Prime Minister of Cyrenaica, which is not recognized by the international community, but with which Italy and the EU have had long-standing relations, through a statement with extremely harsh tones, reports La Reppublica .
The ministers and the EU commissioner had planned a double meeting, first with Trabels, the Tripoli interior minister, and then with his counterpart in Cyrenaica. The aim was to demand more efforts to stop the departures of migrants. But if the meeting with the Dbeibeh government went smoothly, something with the Hamad government must have gone wrong before the meeting.
Piantedosi, the other ministers and the commissioner were formally accused not only of violating diplomatic rules and international conventions and of “acts that constitute a lack of respect for the national sovereignty of Libya”, but also of “ failure to comply with the procedures governing the entry, circulation and stay of foreign diplomats ”. In other words, of illegal entry.
As a result, the planned visit was immediately canceled and the three ministers were stopped upon arrival at the airport and turned back, as they were considered "undesirable on Libyan territory."
Viminale: "Protocol misunderstanding"
According to sources from the Viminale (Italian Interior Ministry), it is a matter of a “protocol misunderstanding poorly managed by the Italian representation”, which led to the interruption of Minister Piantedosi’s diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. According to them, “ the problem has nothing to do with the Italian representatives or with bilateral relations with Italy”.
Conflicting versions
Currently, there are no clear details about the “ protocol misunderstandings ”. But unofficially several versions of the incident are circulating. One says that the “ misunderstanding ” came about due to the strong stance of the EU commissioner, who did not like the presence at the airport of an official delegation of the internationally unrecognized Libyan government. Accepting an official welcome would have meant recognizing them – something Brunner refused to do.
Other sources blame Greece: relations between Athens and Benghazi have been strained due to the increase in migrants arriving from Tobruk. But some sources suggest that there were signs of reconciliation on Sunday during a meeting between Khalifa Haftar and Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis.
Another version says that the greatest anger is towards Italy, despite the close cooperation, because Italy has not shown enough public support for Cyrenaica and Haftar. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, put in a difficult position, limited himself to commenting: "I will speak to Piantedosi as soon as possible about what happened."
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