Western countries’ statements and gestures of support for the Government of National Accord (GNA) Presidential Council continued to pour in throughout the week. Germany has pledged to provide the Presidency Council with €3 million in immediate aid to spend on “much-needed security infrastructure,” with a further €10 million ear marked for a stabilization fund to allow the GNA to begin pressing reconstruction projects. In an expression of cautious optimism, the French Foreign Minister indicated interest in reopening France’s embassy in Tripoli during the Franco-Libyan Chamber of Commerce’s (CCFL) annual meeting in Paris on 6 April.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni arrived in Tripoli on 12 April in a show of support for the GNA, and marking the first visit by a European diplomat since 2014. After a meeting with GNA Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, Gentiloni said, “We are strongly committed to support the new government and the Presidency Council. The first message should be that the Libyan people and the Libyan government should be the one leading the activity against Daesh. We are ready to cooperate.” Following Italy, French Ambassador Antoine Sivan, British Envoy Peter Millet, and Spanish Ambassador José Antonio Bordallo, were to meet with Prime Minister Serraj’s deputies on 14 April to discuss opportunities for Western support.