Piantedosi and EU Commissioner Brunner Arrested at Benghazi Airport

in Libya

The Interior Minister visits Libya with Team Europe, which also includes the Interior Ministers of Malta and Greece. After an event in Tripoli, the stop in Cyrenaica and the arrest: considered "persona non grata"

The Team Europe delegation visiting Libya today was stopped at Benghazi airport as “persona non grata”. The Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Immigration, Magnus Brunner , the Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, together with their colleagues from Greece and Malta, Makis Voridis and Byron Camilleri , are stopped at the airport. The parallel government of the East released a document in which it said that the planned visit did not take place according to the new rules established by a circular issued by the government of Cyrenaica and which concerns foreign diplomats.

"Upon arrival at Benina International Airport, the delegation members were informed that they had to leave the country," the document reads . Shortly after its release, the flight paths of Minister Piantedosi and Commissioner Brunner appeared on FligtRadar 24, heading towards Rome and Malta respectively.

Team Europe was in Libya today to attend some meetings whose main theme is migrants. After a first stop in the west, in Tripoli, the delegation moved to Benghazi. Here the visit was highly anticipated, because for the first time an EU commissioner would make an official visit to Cyrenaica .