The Government of National Unity, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, has approved appointing Italy’s Special Envoy to Libya Nicola Orlando as the European Union’s ambassador to the country, Italian news agency Nova reports.
Nova cited an official note by the Libyan Foreign Ministry dated September 3, which was not publicly released but the agency said it has seen, as the basis for its report.
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 a week ago that Dbeibeh initially rejected Orlando’s nomination. Tripoli has not publicly justified its decision to reject the appointment.
According to the official note seen by Nova, the unblocking of Oralndo’s appointment occurred after the Libyan side received “positive clarification” regarding him.
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.