Despite the excitement of the first exit as defense minister in an international context of the highest level, at the ministerial in Brussels, the new head of Italian defense immediately indicated the priorities for Italy, in full agreement with the indications enshrined in the government branded M5S- Lega. It is "a question of solidarity", said Trenta referring to international missions. "That the will of a NATO more attentive to the Mediterranean be strengthened", that it gives support to Italy and the EU on the "main challenges we face: the fight against terrorism and the fight against human trafficking".
The goal is to make sure that Italy can continue to make its contribution also in an area of our direct strategic and crucial interest for the country's security.
Salvini, said that NATO is a defensive organization. Since the threat comes from southern Europe because of the phenomenon of immigration and terrorism, it is necessary for NATO to intervene, according to the dictates of art. "5", of the Atlantic paper.
In particular, with regard to the Mediterranean, the defense minister hoped that the delays could be overcome in the creation of the regional hub for the South and said that a policy more in support of its partners, in the Mediterranean region, would strengthen the Alliance itself. offering a firmer security frame.
On 'burden sharing', the so-called burden sharing, Trenta asked that the assessment be comprehensive and not selective, because Italy already gives a lot and spoke of "adequate representation of the contributory effort".
Finally, the minister wanted to put the accent on the Cyber Defense, stating that Rome, and in particular the current government, wants to set its national strategy in this area.
The secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg did not miss the opportunity to launch messages of detente to our country: "Italy is a valuable and important ally" announcing that Monday will be in Rome to meet the premier Giuseppe Conte, the head of the Italian Foreign Ministry Enzo Moavero Milanesi and again the defense minister, Elisabetta Trenta.
"I can not wait to meet the premier," Stoltenberg said, pointing out that at the meeting today there was no mention of sanctions against Russia. A theme, the latter, on which he had already warned Italy after Conte in Parliament had called for a "review" of the system of sanctions.
The question will be back on the table of the European Council at the end of June and, according to what is learned, should follow the ordinary procedure, then be discussed directly at the dinner of leaders that should be opened by Macron-Merkel. The central issue concerns compliance with the Minsk agreements, said today the European Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein, who reiterated the Commission's position: the Minsk agreements must be fully respected and sanctions were put in place to implementation of those agreements. Remove them first, it is not viable.
La Trenta also stressed that Italy "always respects and honors the commitments made", but "for what we have given up to now and we want to continue to give, I believe that the time has also come to receive. Stoltemberg in response praised Italy, saying he appreciated the fact that Rome has "started to increase defense spending, but also that it contributes to NATO missions and operations in various ways".
On the missions, the Secretary General of NATO cited Afghanistan, "where Italy is one of the leading nations, but also in the Balkans, Kosovo and elsewhere, where we see that Italy contributes with professional and committed personnel, which we appreciate really".
Stoltemberg then focused on the issue of 2% of GDP that member countries should devote to defense spending. Some allied countries are spending 2% of their country's GDP on defense and most NATO allied states intend to reach this level of investment by 2024. The next investments, Stoltemberg points out, are set to improve the strategy of the defense of nations already allied to NATO ”, continued Stoltenberg, who added that since 2014 Europe and Canada have already spent 87 billion dollars on defense.