The international peacekeeping missions in which Italy is involved, as well as crisis hot spots such as Syria, were the main focus of a report by Ministers Giulio Terzi and Giampaolo Di Paola today to the joint Upper and Lower House defence committees. Terzi expressed his “deep concern” over the Syrian situation, mainly in terms of its “humanitarian aspect”. The emergency is currently affecting 350,000 persons, a number that “risks doubling, since there are over a million internally displaced persons”. “There is much to be done for this mass of refugees, who are potential victims of human trafficking, episodes of which have already been discovered in Italy among refugees arriving on boats”, he added.
Situation in the Sahel “very troubling”
The situation in the Sahel is “very troubling” and “we are hoping that the ECOWAS peacekeeping force will be rapidly deployed there”, stated Terzi, referring to 3,300 peacekeepers in Mali “whose aims are stabilisation and dialogue among moderate Islamist groups”. The position of Algeria is currently “fundamental”, and the country “is reflecting on ways in which to accept the UN force”. On Libya, Terzi said that “the priority need is to confront the internal security problem as soon as the political situation stabilises, and Italy intends to continue to contribute” to that process. Italy’s presence in Lebanon, where the situation is “fragile”, is “of fundamental importance”. Terzi then praised “the excellent job being done by General Serra”, who has assured “a positive return on our foreign policy”.
Afghanistan: slight reduction of Italians in 2013
The ISAF mission in Afghanistan is proceeding on schedule: a “slight” reduction in the Italian troops will begin in 2013, which will be increased in 2014 in such a way as to be able to hand over responsibility to the Afghan security forces by the end of that year. This was the assessment by Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola, who explained that “the transition phase continues, and by year’s end 90% of the population will be in districts under the control of the Afghan forces. There are no ISAF accelerations planned, we will proceed together and in 2013 begin the uniform reduction of all coalition troops”. There will then be, Di Paola continued, “another post-2014 mission to offer assistance and training – not combat– and it will probably be the new parliament and government to decide in 2013 on the type of contribution Italy will make”.
Case of the Italian Marines: anger and dismay, says Terzi
“We are angered and dismayed”, regarding the question of the two Italian marines being detained in India, Terzi reported, by the fact that a “rule of law State such as India is incapable of the courage to express a timely ruling that will bring our men home”. Italy claims the right to “a series of international level actions” in that case that India were to issue an unfavourable ruling, Terzi continued, explaining that “if the fundamental values of the Indian legal system are recognized, the conclusion must be a favourable one”. “The issue”, Terzi said, “has been broadly discussed, I have counted over 100 specific interventions”, and in every setting there has been “recognition of principle” of Italy’s position, which is “extremely clear on the jurisprudential plane”. A further step forward was made at the UN General Assembly. But Italy, the minister said, in the worst-case-scenario of an unfavourable ruling, is ready to take international action. The defence minister reported that the two marines had been “monitored daily since 15 February by a 5 to 6-person team. We trust the Indian Supreme Court, which has its own timeframe”.
