Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez resumed his country’s embassy in Libya on Thursday after being closed for seven years due to civil war.
Sanchez met his Libyan counterpart, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, at the Prime Minister’s residence in Tripoli, where the couple held a press conference after meetings between the delegations.
The Spanish premiere said that his country supports stabilization and reconciliation efforts in Libya.
Sanchez announced that Spain has launched consular services to issue Schengen visas to Libyans to help increase cooperation and strengthen relations between the two countries.
He said he was accompanied by a group of Spanish entrepreneurs who were keen to work in health, reconstruction, infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture and livestock in Libya.
Sanchez also noted that the international community supports the election in Libya, which is scheduled for December 24 this year.
Dbeibah said that ways to develop relations between the two countries in a way that would serve common interests were discussed in his meeting with Sanchez.
Dbeibah also welcomed the resumption of the embassy and the effort to take relations to the highest level after many years.
“We believe that this step is an indication of Spain’s seriousness in improving bilateral relations,” he said. “We look forward to more positive steps and the resumption of air services between the two countries and the facilitation of the issuance of visas for Libyans.”
Dbeibah said that during the meeting with the Spanish delegation, they agreed to reactivate the Joint Commission Libya and Spain to evaluate all previously signed agreements between the two countries and to determine the possible ones. The assignment has been vacant since 2008.
Libya has recently witnessed a positive development following a breakthrough in which rival parties agreed on 5 February on a unified new executive that will rule ahead of national elections.
Libyans hope the new government will end years of civil war that have engulfed the country since the 2011 challenge and assassination of strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi.
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