Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will be in Ankara on 7 and 8 July to attend the NATO Summit, alongside Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Defence Minister Guido Crosetto. The Summit will focus on strengthening Euro-Atlantic security and adapting the Alliance to new strategic challenges. Key items on the agenda will include strengthening the Allies’ contribution to collective deterrence and defence, including by reviewing the implementation of commitments made regarding defence investment and the strengthening of the transatlantic defence industry, as well as support for Ukraine and key international security issues, with particular focus on the Middle East and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Minister Tajani will take part today in the ministerial meeting with the partners of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar), whose participation in the Summit was strongly supported by Italy. The dialogue with the Gulf states will focus on developments in the Middle East, with particular attention to Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and the Strait of Hormuz. Italy will reiterate that the wider Mediterranean and the Gulf constitute a strategic security area whose instability has a direct impact on the Euro-Atlantic region, and will confirm Italy’s commitment to safeguarding security and freedom of navigation.
The Minister will also take part in the E5 ministerial meeting (France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom), co-organised by Italy and Poland, which will also be attended by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan. The meeting aims to strengthen coordination on key European security issues, with particular attention to Ukraine and the Middle East. Italy will reiterate the need for a unified approach to the challenges affecting NATO’s southern flank, emphasising that the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz confirms the strategic importance of the wider Mediterranean for Euro-Atlantic security.
Tajani will also take part in the working dinner of the NATO-Ukraine Council at Foreign Minister level, attended by his Ukrainian counterpart Sybiha and the EU High Representative Kallas, which will focus on the latest developments in the conflict and the coordination of allied assistance. Italy will reaffirm its support for Ukraine – which it has guaranteed since the start of the Russian aggression, both bilaterally and multilaterally – and for Kyiv’s path towards accession to the European Union in accordance with the enlargement process.
Finally, on 8 July, Minister Tajani will stand alongside Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, together with Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, at the North Atlantic Council meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government.
