Despite recent "positive signals" in war-torn Libya, there are several "less encouraging signs" hampering its progress, such as the delayed national budget, Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Wednesday.
"In recent months we have seen positive signals such as the appointment in March of a unified national interim government - the first to represent the entire country since 2014," Di Maio said.
But much still needs be done to ready Libya for national polls slated for 24 December, Di Maio added in a statement to the press after talks in Rome with Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas.
"In this regard, there are several less encouraging signs, such as the delayed adoption of the national budget and the stalemate over re-opening the Sirte-Misrata coastal road," he added.
"Elections, the reunification of Libya's national institutions, the implementation of the (October 2020) ceasefire (between Libya's warring factions) and re-building the economy: these are the major challenges facing the unified national government, to which we renew our joint support."
"In such a delicate situation, the international community's united support for the actions of the United Nations is crucial," Di Maio underlined.
