国际英语资讯:Italian PM says govt united on Libya crisis_时事

国际英语资讯:Italian PM says govt united on Libya crisis

"Haftar has always played an important role," said Conte. "This is why I involved him in the Palermo conference (in November 2018), I met with him in Benghazi, and hosted him in Rome."

Conte stressed his concern over a possible humanitarian crisis if the conflict in Libya does not abate, saying that while the violence might interrupt the flow of migrants into Libya from sub-Saharan Africa, "Libya could go from being mostly a country of migrant transit to one of departure."

Conte also said Italy's military contingent and embassy staff will "remain fully operational for now, but we are ready to intervene to safeguard their security at any time."

He was echoed by his defense minister, Trenta, who told Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview also on Saturday that as far as Italian staff in Libya, "the evacuation plans are operational, we'll see how the situation evolves."

With regards to Salvini's aggressive remarks against France, Trenta said that "there is no need a showdown, there is no need to act tough as I see some doing just to grab a newspaper headline or two. What we need now is intelligence, composure, and dialogue."

Like Conte, the defense minister said that Italy "talks to all the players in the field as well as our international partners", and added that "France is our partner and friend, and I expect a country who is friend to act with fairness".

"There is excellent cooperation and healthy competition between France and Italy," Trenta told Corriere. "We do not work to damage each other, but it is normal that Italy should also strive to pursue its own interests."