Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Italy today, where he met with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.
"Keeping our billion people safe is NATO's most sacred duty, which is why we are increasing our defense industrial capacity.", said the Secretary General, adding that "we must go further and faster, for our own deterrence and to support Ukraine".
The Secretary General stressed that Italy is "a faithful and reliable ally, which contributes in many ways to Euro-Atlantic security". He highlighted Italy's leadership of NATO's new battle group in Bulgaria, its contributions to NATO deployments in Hungary and Latvia, and the deployment of Italian jets to protect allied airspace and ships to keep crucial sea lanes open. "Italy is once again leading our peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, helping to promote stability in the Western Balkans", he added.
The Secretary General thanked Prime Minister Meloni “for being such a strong supporter of Ukraine”. He stressed that allies and partners “they will continue to support Ukraine, because Ukraine's struggle is our struggle”, and welcomed Italy's strong support for the Action Plan adopted at the Washington Summit for a stronger, more strategic and results-oriented approach towards NATO's Southern Neighbourhood.
During his visit, Secretary General Rutte also visited the Italian plants of the defense manufacturing group Rheinmetall.
