The bilateral Algeria-Italy exercise took place from 12 to 16 June last, in the port and in the waters in front of the port of Augusta. Medex-I-17, this year at the helm of the Italian Navy.
Now in its ninth edition, the exercise is one of the cooperation activities that the Navy carries out with the North African Navies in the 5 + 5 initiative. The purpose of this activity is to increase and consolidate the capacity for cooperation and joint intervention, mainly in the field of the surveillance and control of merchant traffic, contrasting illegal activities by sea, search and rescue of human lives at sea and search and removal of ordnance found on the seabed, focusing on the aspects concerning interoperability in a context of multinational integration.
Italy participated in the exercise with Nave Commander Foscari, Ship Relay, an AB-212 helicopter, a boarding team of the San Marco marine brigade and a team of divers Core Service Defense Anti-insidiosis (SDAI) of Augusta. Algeria participated with the logistic support vessel Kalaat Beni Rached, boarding team and a team of divers.
The exercise took place in two phases, the first preparatory in port and the second operational at sea. The main objective was to put in place and verify the procedures in the operational field to combat illicit trafficking and the safeguarding of human life at sea.
The commander in chief of the naval squad, squad admiral Donato Marzano, took part in the exercise, also taking the opportunity to pay a visit aboard the Algerian unit.
La Medex-I-17, an important training and training event for both crews, was a valid and productive opportunity that further strengthened the already excellent relationship between the navies of the two states.
In this perspective, regional initiatives play a fundamental role both as force multipliers and as a preventive tool that allows the reduction of overlaps and the optimization of resources.
Italy and the Navy have in fact been promoters for some time - within the so-called confidence-building with the Mediterranean countries (5 + 5 Initiative with France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain on the one hand and Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia on the other) and the Adriatic region (Adrion Initiative with Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro and Serbia) - initiatives of mutual benefit for all parties, to the benefit of stability and mutual trust, demonstrating the need to invest in such projects.
