Brussels, 03/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - President Romano Prodi chose to spend his holidays this year in Libya and although it was a private visit, he held a meeting with Colonel Khadafi, who invited him to attend the celebrations commemorating the 1 September 1969 revolution. At the celebrations, the Commission's press service explains that President Prodi held a meeting with Colonel Khadafi and addressed the Congress of People's Committees of the Revolution. The press release explains that the honour paid to Romano Prodi of being the only foreign figurehead to be allowed to make a speech at the ceremony was in recognition of President Prodi's efforts to bring Libya back into the international fold and create closer links between Libya and the EU, along with his close relations with Colonel Khadafi. The Commission explained that during their cordial meeting, the two men had looked at relations between the EU and Libya, with Colonel Khadafi restating his interest in formal relations with the EU as part of the Barcelona Process. The issue of the Bulgarian and Palestinian nurses was also discussed, with Colonel Khadafi being fully informed of the European Commission's initiatives to promote provide EU aid for people infected with AIDS in Libya, particularly at Benghazi. President Prodi and Colonel Khadafi agreed on the growing importance of African issues for the Mediterranean region, and the importance of a Pan-African view of Africa, in which the African Union had a central role to play.
Romano Prodi's trip follows the visit to Libya by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on 26 August, where Berlusconi expressed his desire to make cooperation with Libya into a model for solving the issue of illegal immigration. The future European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Rocco Buttiglione, said at the end of August in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa that Italy had to be fully admitted back into the international Mediterranean cooperation system. He said the meeting between Khadafi and Berlusconi was the end of a process, marking a decisive moment where all the criteria have been met for Libya to be readmitted as a full partner into the international Mediterranean cooperation system. Buttiglione also urged Libya to abandon its isolation.
Settlement of the La Belle discotheque in Berlin case, following a bombing 18 years ago, was kicked off at the beginning of August. A foundation headed by Colonel Khadafi's son has pledged to pay the families of the victims a total of USD 35 million (EUR 28 million). In return, the German government has lifted its trade embargo and Chancellor Schroder may visit Libya in the autumn. British prime minister Tony Blair visited Libya in March 2004, when Libya admitted its role in the Lockerbie bombing (of a Boeing 747 aircraft over a Scottish village in 1988). Soon after, Colonel Khadafi visited the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, in Brussels.
The agreement between Tripoli and Berlin was welcomed by the European Commission as a new step in the process of integrating Libya back into the international community. But President Prodi pointed out that the death sentences passed on five Bulgarian nurses by the Libyan justice system were remained as an obstacle in the path of closer EU relations with Tripoli.