The Government of National Unity (GNU) has announced it is now giving clearance to the appointment of the Italian diplomat Nicola Orlando as Ambassador of the European Union to Libya.
Libyan and international sources had reported previously that the Libyan Government led by Prime Minister Abdulahamid Dbeibah had refused, several weeks ago, the nomination of Nicola Orlando as a successor to the Spanish diplomat Jose Sadabel in the role of the EU’s Ambassador to Tripoli.
However, more recently, the government indicated in an official memorandum to the European Union mission, that it had withdrawn its previous refusal concerning the nomination of Orlando after positive clarifications were provided regarding his candidacy.
The Italian Nova news agency reported that the Libyan Ambassador to Rome, Muhannad Younis, explained that the change in the Libyan government’s position on the nomination, came after the Libyan Embassy in Italy informed the government that the initial information related to Orlando’s account was unfounded.
Nicola Orlando was the Deputy Italian Ambassador to Libya from 2017 to 2019. He was appointed in May 2021 as Special Envoy of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Libya, in addition to previously being the Italian Ambassador to Kosovo.
Source: Libya Alahrar + Nova news agency
