The situation in Libya seems getting worse and worse and also the Italian Embassy in Tripoli has closed few days ago due to the ISIS advance in the Country.

The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs has declared that Rome is ready for a military operation under the auspices of United Nations. The official reason is that Libya is so close to Italy that Isis could become a serious problem for the national security. 





But which are the Italian interests in its former colony? Why Libya is so much more important for Rome than Syria or Iraq?

After the Libyan Independence in 1947, and even after the Gaddafi coup in 1969, the economic relationship between Rome and Tripoli have been kept strong.

The total trade between those two Countries is around 11 Billion Euro per year. It was the double just in 2008, but after the political crisis, the trade has decreased, reaching the lowest point in 2011 (when Gaddafi died), at 4.5 Billion. The main businesses are gas and oil, that represent the 90% of the total import from Libya to Italy.

Brieafly, Libya produces less than 2% of the World oil, but Italy import the 25% of its total energetic need from Tripoli; without considering the contracts got by Italian companies for the construction of bridges, streets, and the supply of arms.

That is why Rome cannot risk to lose such a partner. We will see in the next weeks and months what will happen. Let's just avoid to hide economic interests under the reasons of pace and stabilization of the area.