Italy maintains its leading role in cooperation with the countries of the southern Mediterranean shores, according to Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Michele Valensise, who spoke in Cagliari at the 20th annual COPEAM Conference, a permanent audio-visual conference, on the panel entitled “The Mediterranean, between economic crises and sociopolitical change”.
“We have had close ties with the southern shores for a long time now, and we continue to maintain them with the new leaders”, asserted Valensise. “We are engaged in cooperation and Italy’s presence is ensured also by our businesses, which continue to operate in countries such as Tunisia, Libya and Egypt during this delicate transitional phase”.
Media role
Valensise also underscored the media’s role in the Euro-Mediterranean region as one “of major importance as a result of their efforts to bring the two shores closer together. We need to better understand each other and our respective realities and to build on Euro-Mediterranean integration – this too being a context in which Italy continues to play an important role”.
