Meloni in Lebanon: here is what the Italian contingent of 1,300 soldiers is doing
Italy participates in Unifil, whose tasks include maintaining a buffer zone with Israel, and in Mibil, which trains Lebanese security forces
by Andrea Carli
4' min read
4' min read
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut. She was welcomed by the Prime Minister of the Lebanese Republic, Najib 'Azmi Miqãti, and the Italian Ambassador to Lebanon, Nicoletta Bombardiere. The focus of his dinner with the prime minister at the presidential palace was, of course, the crisis in the Middle East, with Italy's firm desire to continue to contribute to the security and stability of the country of the cedars at an extremely delicate juncture, with the tangible risk of a widening of the conflict that would have incalculable consequences for the entire area. In the bilateral with the prime minister, Meloni will bring Italy's concrete closeness to Lebanon, a state with which Rome has historically maintained solid relations.
The premier reiterated "Italy's willingness to continue to contribute to the security and stability of Lebanon, particularly at this historic moment". With "a clear message," Palazzo Chigi explained, "on the need to avoid any risk of escalation along the border with Israel", between Hezbollah groups and the Israeli army.
Meloni comes to a country for five years engulfed in the worst economic crisis in its history and for six months trapped in an increasingly devastating war of attrition between Hezbollah and Israel. The Miqati government is composed of Hezbollah ministers. And parliament is dominated by a majority coalition where the Party of God and its allies still have a majority.
On Thursday, 28 March, the Prime Minister will instead be in the Base of Shama to visit the Italian military contingents operating in the Lebanese theatre of operations in the UN (Unifil) and in the bilateral sphere (Mibil). In all, over 1,300 Italian military personnel are involved in the Middle East country.
"I would like to point out the example of Lebanon, where our contingent for 2024 is substantially similar to previous years," recalled the Chief of Defence Staff Giuseppe Cavo Dragone , speaking in the last few hours in a hearing before the Joint Foreign and Defence Committees - . Here too, we are working to support a more effective implementation of the Security Council's Resolution 1701, as witnessed by the initiative that, under the aegis of the Minister of Defence, I personally carried out by inviting my counterparts from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain to Rome on 1 March, together with the Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, who will necessarily have to assume a more profiled role in order to foster the stabilisation of the Israeli-Lebanese border'.
