Libya could descend into violence and instability once again if elections slated for 24 December do not go ahead, Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio warned on Thursday.
"Not holding elections would threaten the stability of the entire area and could start a new phase of violence whose effects could impact our country and the entire European Union," Di Maio wrote on Facebook.
"We will keep working to get the international community to support the (UN brokered) political process in Libya," Di Maio stated.
"Free, fair and inclusive elections are crucial. They are desired by the population, which craves normality."
Di Maio's post came after he co-chaired a meeting on Libya in New York on Wednesday during the UN General Assembly, together with his French and German counterparts Jean Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas.
The post urged "the urgent withdrawal of foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libyan soil".
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