Nicola Orlando, Italy’s Special Envoy to Libya, was denied approval to become the next EU ambassador to the country by Prime Minister Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, Italian press revealed.
Orlando was chosen by Brussels as successor to Jose Sabadell who ended today his three-year tenure as EU ambassador in Libya. Orlando’s appointment as new Europe’s ambassador was communicated by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the Union, Josep Borrell, last April.
However, Italian press, including news agency Nova and Il Foglio newspaper, reported yesterday that Dbeibeh rejected Orlando’s nomination. Tripoli has not publicly justified its decision to reject the appointment.
Born in 1975, Orlando began his diplomatic career since 2001. He was deputy ambassador to Tripoli from 2017 to 2019, when the Italian diplomatic mission was led by Giuseppe Perrone. He was appointed in May 2021 as Italy’s special envoy by former Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.