Meloni: 'Italia ready to contribute on Hormuz as soon as conditions are right'

"Italia is ready to do its part to contribute, as soon as the conditions are right, to the safety of navigation, in the wake of what has already been done in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean with the Aspides and Atalanta missions". This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during her speech at the Europe Gulf Forum, in Navarino, Greece, speaking about the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.

She added: 'We are convinced that a sustainable solution to the crisis must rest on certain pillars. The first is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, without tolls or discriminatory restrictions, because it is from freedom of navigation that the prosperity not only of the Mediterranean and the Gulf, but of the whole world, passes".

The Italian PM went on to say: 'We must make sure that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon and cease to be a threat to neighbouring nations and beyond. The Iranian regime's attacks, which have gone as far as striking even Cyprus and therefore Europe, show that a nuclear-armed Iran, coupled with a wide-ranging missile capability, is a risk that none of us can afford to take'.

For Meloni, there is a need for 'a more structured partnership between the Mediterranean and the Gulf. For the Prime Minister, it must translate into 'a stable, concrete and strategic dialogue between nations that know how their respective security, prosperity and ability to face global challenges are now deeply intertwined. Such a dialogue must also be based on trust: a trust that stems from mutual respect - respect for our histories, our cultures, our traditions and our identities. The basic conviction that has long moved me is that it is a mistake to reduce the Mediterranean and the Gulf to geopolitical spaces of a 'regional' nature, and therefore substantially unrelated to the great global dynamics. They are, on the contrary, spaces that project their action and influence far beyond the borders that delimit them and that can, together, determine the direction of some of the great challenges of our time'.

The government has no plans for corrective manoeuvres and is working with Europe to make the safeguard clause for defence spending more flexible, and thus use it against high energy prices. The executive's position is not new, but it had to be reiterated on a Friday shaken by Antonio Tajani's response to a question on the energy crisis and the possibility of a slippage.