"The European Union must become a global security producer, to do so it must strengthen its cooperation with NATO and with all other international organizations. In this sense, Italy is ready to play its part".
This is what the Minister of Defense, Elisabetta Trenta affirmed, in her speech to the Foreign Affairs Council (CAE) - in joint Foreign-Defense format - meeting today in Luxembourg.
Meeting focused on different topics: Pesco, military mobility, European Peace Facility, European Union - NATO cooperation, progress made in the implementation of the Security and Defense aspects deriving from the EU Global Strategy (EUGS), hybrid threats .
Regarding military mobility, Minister Trenta expressed "strong satisfaction because it is a project that aims to strengthen security throughout Europe and in particular to the South through the implementation of the corridors of the Trans-European Network-Transportation component".
The theme of the security of the southern shore was at the center of the conversation between the head of the Dicastery and her German colleague, Ursula Von Der Leyen, carried out on the sidelines of the ministerial.
"We need real solutions on immigration, European solutions because the stability of the Mediterranean concerns everyone and not just Italy. Europe must take greater responsibility. The southern shore is a European border and for this reason we believe that the EU must be the first to take responsibility for the emergency”Said Minister Trenta who obtained“ positive feedback ”from the homologation. In fact, Germany said it was ready for bilateral collaboration with Italy, within the EU, for 'capacity building' interventions in favor of Libya, in order to help the country in its stabilization process: "The goal is to combat trafficking in human beings and terrorism".
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Trenta also met the defense ministers of Poland, Mariusz Blaszczak, and of Spain, Margarita Robles.
Minister Trenta said in Luxembourg that Italy will continue to support the EU Global Strategy structured on three pillars: implementation plan for security and defense, European defense action plan and joint NATO-EU declaration.
Regarding the "hybrid threats", the minister underlined the importance of a "whole of government" approach and an integrated civil-military strategy.
On Pesco - now in the implementation phase with the 17 projects presented for the first lot - the Dicastery owner said she was satisfied with the definition of the common rules of governance of the projects that will make the whole process easier, ensuring transparency and inclusiveness.
Another issue on which the defense ministers discussed, the European peace facility (European Peace Facility). In this regard, Minister Trenta declared his full satisfaction with this proposal, formulated by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, which aims to streamline the financing procedures of the common security and defense.
Minister Trenta defined the work carried out to date for NATO EU Cooperation as "excellent and concrete". Cooperation that is also realized through the Hub for the South of NATO whose main task is the coordination of all initiatives in the field of counter-terrorism. In this regard, he stated that Italy supports the signing of a new joint declaration during the next NATO summit in July to further strengthen this cooperation.
