“America is stronger” with the re-election of Barack Obama, and his return to the White House “is another major opportunity for the European Union and for Italy”. Minister for Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi commented on Obama’s victory on RAITRE. “A stronger America” because “it will keep to a path that has been yielding results in terms of growth and employment, with 5 million jobs created since the start of the Obama mandate, and on the level of industrial recovery”, Terzi explained, underscoring that it was necessary to look at “what happened in Ohio, but also elsewhere in industrial policy management”. It is therefore “a stronger America in its economic components, in its economic foundations”, he continued. But also at “international level”, where continuity renders her “even stronger”, because this is an America that will “continue to reward multilateralism, continue its open and dialogue-oriented approach to a world in transformation, especially among the Arab and Mediterranean nations. It is also a stronger America in terms of dialogue with Europe because it believes and will continue to believe in the process of European integration, in a concerted approach, working with Europeans on how to stabilise international finance and markets”. In this sense, “even for the EU and for Italy this will give further stimulus to a forward-leaning approach to the challenges we face in both European and transatlantic contexts”, Terzi asserted.
Continuity in crisis management a boon for Italy
Terzi underscored the importance of the crisis management continuity assured by Obama’s victory. “The possibility to maintain on-going dialogue and cooperation on financial management, market stability, EU integration and, above all, on the strengthening of the euro, are fixed points for the US administration that work to our country’s advantage”, Terzi said – the sort of support that was “not at all sure” to be forthcoming under a Republican administration.
In sync on foreign policy
Barack Obama’s victory reconfirms that “open dialogue” on the international questions that the Democratic administration have raised over the past four years, which “are in sync with the genetic features of Italian foreign policy”, Minister Terzi underscored in an interview for RAI following the election results. The minister was referring to the three main international dossiers of Iran, Syria and Libya. Regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, Terzi expressed his conviction that the Obama administration would give “fresh impetus to the talks” on the risk that Teheran has military intentions for its nuclear programme; Terzi said he was also convinced that in Syria the re-elected president and his collaborators would opt for “a political solution hinged on fostering unity among opposition forces”, a route that Italy is also pursuing through its “very active role in providing the Assad regime with a real alternative”. Just back from a mission to Tripoli, the minister also pointed out the convergence with the White House on post-Gaddafi Libya. Indeed, there is the common conviction, often expressed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that “the processes of political transformation, especially in the Mediterranean countries, need support and guidance”.
