General Graziano participated in the International meeting of the Chiefs of Defense Staff of the countries that adhere to the Defense Cooperation Initiative (DECI) that this year was hosted by Hungary.
The purpose of this initiative, promoted by Italy and in which Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Albania and from today also Montenegro participate is to promote, on a regional basis and between nations European countries that share the same interests in the defense field, a cooperation project aimed at increasing the stability of the Region and the growth of cooperation between the adhering countries through joint participation in international operations, development projects in the technical-military field or training and educational activities, to be developed in the near future.
General Graziano, as Chief of Staff for the Defense of the Leading Nation, thanked the Hungarian colleague for organizing the event and greeted and thanked the participants for their ongoing support for the Initiative and welcomed Montenegro both for entry into the DECI both for the very recent one of the country in the Atlantic Alliance.
"Europe in general and our countries in particular - said General Graziano - they are involved in a complex and fluid geo-strategic scenario; some areas of the Balkans are still characterized by latent tensions due, among other things, to exposure to migratory flows, to the presence of Islamic extremist groups, to the fragility of internal politics and to the critical socio-economic situation of some States".
"Also the instabilities coming from the Middle Eastern region and northern Africa - added the Chief of Defense Staff - have significant repercussions on Europe especially due to the phenomenon of uncontrolled immigration and all this represents a fertile ground for religious terrorism and for the proliferation of transnational criminal groups that have the potential capacity to take control of large areas of a Country - as happened with the spread of Daesh."
"To cope with this complex international framework - General Graziano highlighted - an effective exchange of information and an increase in the synchronization of activities between the actors involved is necessary".
The Defense Chief of Staff then recalled the need to develop a regional approach in a global context based on cooperation with international partners and organizations, especially NATO and the European Union.
"The role of DECI represents an extremely useful and concrete approach to establish effective coordination measures with the main international organizations and to create a new military-strategic cooperation with the countries interested in promoting regional stability.", Concluded the head of SMD.
