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UN Security Council Discusses Bathily's Mediation Efforts in Libya

UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily (UNSMIL)
UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily (UNSMIL)
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UN Security Council Discusses Bathily's Mediation Efforts in Libya

UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily (UNSMIL)
UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily (UNSMIL)

The UN Security Council will hold its bi-monthly briefing on the situation in Libya, during which UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily will brief the Security Council on the recent political, security, and humanitarian developments.

The session will also address the Secretary-General's latest report on the UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

The Security Council Report website, which follows UN news, stated that the goal of the Security Council is to support the political momentum and UN-led mediation efforts towards national elections and forming a unified government.

The Council's objectives related to Libya also focus on helping foster common political ground between the country's rival legislatures to agree on electoral law, a goal that Bathily has repeatedly urged Council members to support by wielding their influence on national stakeholders.

At December's meeting, members may reiterate their call on Libyan actors to engage in good-faith negotiations to achieve consensus on outstanding political issues.

The rival governments had initially expressed their intent to finalize legislation to hold elections by the end of the year.

Furthermore, some members may welcome Bathily's proposed meeting of institutional stakeholders and urge them to participate in these discussions productively.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.